Transformers: Gods Among Us season 2
by Bendatron
Summary: Although Megatron's master plan has been averted, the Decepticon leader is still at large, Starscream has gone rogue, and many other threats remain. But as Optimus continues to lead the fight against the Autobots' enemy and uphold peace with their Human allies, Prowl begins suspecting of a new Decepticon project that could threaten everything and will turn their world upside-down.
1. The Weapons Dealer

**Author's note** : Hello everyone! Since I've taken a hiatus from my Star Wars fanfiction series I've decided to start the second season of my Transformers fanfiction series before this year is over. So now that I'm finally back, let the story continue and I hope you all enjoy:

 _Unknown location, 2016_

Megatron walked amongst the yellow tanks and examined their beastly occupants with great interest. He stopped at one that resembled a bipedal dragon with two heads and looked deeply into it.

"I recall Shockwave starting a project like this back on Cybertron shortly before our departure" said Megatron "He seemed perfectly convinced that he could clone long extinct Predacons with the use of fossilized remains. It sounded ludicrous to me but intriguing nonetheless. I trust it had something to do with this?"

"Well; admittedly the idea was his and the fossils were ones I stole from his facility, but I bred them all myself without any outside help" replied Flatline. Megatron smirked and placed a finger against the glass of the tank in front of him.

"Interesting…" said Megatron "And rather ironic. Usually, any interference to Shockwave's projects would be met with disdain; but in this case, it's proved to be quite an asset" He slowly scratched his finger across the glass, causing some of the yellow liquid to leak out.

"Careful!" exclaimed Flatline "These are black-market tanks, they're much more _delicate_ than the ones in Shockwave's lab"

"I had a feeling they would be" said Megatron as he moved off and began walking amongst the tubes again. "So, are there any that are ready for activation yet?"

"Well, I would suggest starting with the first one I created" replied Flatline "This way!" He led Megatron over to the center of the room where a large tank sat that had the Cybertronian numeral for 1 marked at the top of it. Within the yellow liquid inside, a creature that resembled a coiled up scorpion lay within the liquid. Megatron walked up to it and looked deeply into its four red eyes that glimmered ominously.

"How long until you can release it?" asked Megatron.

"The process should take about forty-two hours to complete" replied Flatline.

"And what kind of armament does it possess?" asked Megatron.

"Well, its claws and mandibles are sharp and can do harm" replied Flatline "And its tail possess a powerful stinger that can stun or possibly even kill its enemies" Megatron showed subtle signs of disappointment at the reply. "But…But if you want, I could always graft additional weapons of your choosing after the process is complete"

"That will do" said Megatron.

"Lord Megatron, I can give you a layout of the armory's supply so you can choo—" said Soundwave.

"No!" snapped Megatron "This will be the first in a long line of superweapons, I intend it to carry much more firepower than the average Decepticon soldier"

"Than what kind of weapons should we give it?" asked Slipstream.

"There is one on this world who possesses what I am looking for" replied Megatron.

"Wait, you're not talking about—" said Slipstream.

"He is the best chance we have" said Megatron "Besides; should he go out of line, I will be very persuasive. Soundwave, organize a tracking protocol"

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave.

"As of this moment, Project: Predacon is in motion" said Megatron. Unbeknownst to the four of them, the scorpion within the tank blinked twice in curiosity.

 **The Weapons Dealer**

 _Meanwhile in the Ark_

Ratchet watched videos on Teletraan I of the devastated sites caused by Cybertron only a day ago. As he looked carefully at the rebuilding process that was underway, Optimus approached him from behind.

"It looks like we're finally recovering from the incident" said Optimus "It could have been our ultimate doom, but we all persevered"

"I only wish we could play a part in the reconstruction" said Ratchet "It was all because of us that this even happened"

"I lament the repercussions of our conflict as well, Ratchet" said Optimus "We protected them in this dire time and they are safe once again thanks to us, but I still wish we could do more"

"We did what we could and we're doing what we can now, that's what's important" said Prowl as he walked up to them "And what's important now is that we continue to do our part. It's been only one day since the incident and we've seen no sign of Decepticon activity since then, and that could mean only one thing…Megatron is formulating a new plan"

"Or maybe he's just taking a good long rest" said Jazz as he placed a hand over Prowl's shoulders "I mean; he just came back from the dead and spent most of his time on his masterplan, so I imagine he'd be a bit worn out"

"Amusing thought" said Prowl in an utmost deadpan "But realistically, we need to start investigating this further"

"Prowl is right" said Optimus "Megatron won't take this defeat lightly. The moment a new opportunity presents itself, he will take it; so we must be prepared for it" As the Autobots discussed amongst themselves, Melody sat against a wall on a platform with her arms crossed and a down expression on her face.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Bumblebee.

"Yeah" replied Melody.

"So how are you holding up?" asked Bumblebee.

"Bobby offered to let me stay at his house for the time being" replied Melody "I accepted it, so I'm moving in tomorrow morning"

"That's good to know" said Bumblebee "And hey, you can always count on me to help with the moving.

"Thanks" said Melody "I can always rely on you guys for help. Still, I'm worried about what happened to Mom. Do you think…Do you think the Cons have her?"

"Well…that is a possibility…" replied Bumblebee.

"But one that doesn't matter" said Arcee as she walked up to them "Either way, whether she was kidnapped by the Cons or someone else entirely, we'll get her back"

"Yeah, we will!" said Bumblebee enthusiastically "We'll get her back and everything will be fine" Melody managed a smile.

"You seem so certain" said Prowl. Bumblebee and Arcee turned towards him with a confused look on their faces. "At this moment, she's probably being tortured by Soundwave for information"

"Prowl, don't say stuff like that" said Jazz.

"I'm only stating the truth, no matter how dark or grim it may be" said Prowl "This is why we can't have civilians involved, they'll only get in harm's way"

"They're not in harm's way, we're protecting them!" snapped Bumblebee.

"Really?" said Prowl "Thanks to you, three Human children and possibly their families are now targets of the Decepticons. Our protection couldn't prevent Melody's mother from being taken away, so how do you expect to help them further?"

"By…By keeping a more watchful eye over them from now on" said Bumblebee.

"Are you sure you're capable of that?" said Prowl "I mean, that's what you were supposed to do from the start" Bumblebee clenched his fist and struck towards him with absolute daggers.

"How dare you!" snapped Bumblebee. Before either of them could do anything else, Jazz slipped in between them.

"That's enough!" said Jazz "Calm down, the both of you; we're not here to argue or press judgement and blame. I think we can all agree that we've got enough on our plate at the moment; and before we do anything, we should take a deep breath and calm down" Bumblebee and Prowl's stern gaze at each other seemed to almost create a powerful electrical charge between each of them.

"Let's…take a break, shall we?" said Arcee as she patted Bumblebee on the back gently. At that moment, the proximity sensors went off.

"Well, seems we're gonna have to deal with all of this later since Agent Bluestone no doubt has something important to tell us" The elevator next to Teletraan opened up and Agent Bluestone stepped out.

"Agent Bluestone, what do you have to report?" asked Optimus.

"As you know, things have been pretty messy recently but the cleanup is finally going smoothly" said Bluestone.

"Bulkhead said he wanted to join in on helping the reconstruction, but I think we can all agree that it would be problematic" said Ratchet. Bluestone sighed.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jazz.

"Well; to cut things short, this is goodbye for now" said Bluestone "You see; ever since the incident, the US government has been very distressed and heated in discussions. And on top of that, the media's more abuzz than usual; I mean, how to tell the whole world that a giant freakin' planet that almost collided into us was just a hallucination or something. As liaison for you guys and the government, I'm going to have to be there for a lot of it so our meetings are going to become more limited for the time being"

"And how exactly does the government feel about continuing our operation?" asked Prowl.

"Given the recent turn of events, they realize that we still need you" replied Bluestone "Unfortunately however, they feel that more supervision is also needed now"

"For real!?" exclaimed Bumblebee.

"I'm not fond of the idea and I did my best to voice out against it, but they still felt it was necessary" said Bluestone.

"And with you busy most of the time, someone else will be given the job of supervising us" said Prowl.

"That is correct" said Bluestone "I don't know who they are exactly, but I do know that they'll be arriving this afternoon at 12:00 to meet you"

"We'll make sure we're on our best behavior" said Optimus "I'll try to reason with them to see if they can more reasonable with the supervision"

"Good luck with that" said Bluestone. He briefly turned and noticed Melody. "Oh, and make sure it's just you Bots here when they arrive. They won't take kindly to contact with civilians"

"Understood" said Optimus.

"Well, I'd better be getting back to my work" said Bluestone. He turned towards the elevator and entered it.

"Optimus, are we really going to be supervised completely from now on?" asked Bumblebee.

"The Humans are the natives of this planet and it's their government that allows us to continue operating" replied Optimus "If they believe that keeping a closer eye on us is the best course of action, then I will not object to it"

"Nor will I" said Bumblebee "But I'm not sure how the others are going to take this"

 _Meanwhile in Utah_

Amidst the windy and barren environment of the Utah desert, a tall figure leisurely walked across the landscape. He was sandy-yellow and purple in color and wore the Decepticon insignia which shone bright the sun's ray and a large scatter blaster mounted on his right forearm. His optics were deep purple and he held a wooden stake in his mouth like a toothpick. He walked over to a large rock and pulled out a remote.

"Have some new weapons in your stock, Swindle?" said a voice. The Decepticon quickly spun around in shock to see Megatron and Soundwave standing before him.

"Ah, Lord Megatron!" exclaimed Swindle "What a…unexpected surprise! Huh, what! Megatron…you're…y-you're…"

"Alive?" said Megatron "Did you expect me to be otherwise?"

"Well…there was word around that you were dead, but I see that they were false" stammered Swindle nervously "What, uh, brings you here?"

"I'll get straight to the point, Swindle, since we've already wasted enough time; I want weapons" replied Megatron.

"Ah yes, that's my specialty!" said Swindle "Just wait one second!" He typed into his remote which caused the rock in front of them to shift into the appearance of a crashed Cybertronian ship that was so covered in dust that you could not make out the original color.

"So, this is where you've been hiding this whole time" said Megatron.

"Crashed this thing ages ago" said Swindle "I tried my hand at repairing it, but it was pretty much irreversible. Fortunately however, the shielding and camouflage systems were undamaged and are still fully functional. Come on in" The three of them stepped through the entrance that was draped in sandy rags and stepped inside. The layout of the inside of the ship was modeled like an ammunitions store with various blasters, melee weapons, and explosive devices lining the walls and various containers around them. "So, uh, what can I get you guys? Oh, I know!" He started pulling out various armaments from a nearby draw. "I bet you'd like this one, Soundwave; it's a new and improved model of sonic cannon! Or maybe this…the thermo rocket cannon…or perhaps the classic scatter blaster, a personal favorite of mine as you can plainly see. Or maybe the null-ray, something with a real flare to it"

"Just seeing that weapon again reminds me of that craven traitor Starscream" said Megatron "If I ever see him again, I'll rip his spine out with my bare hands!"

"Um; Lord Megatron, you seem to be getting distracted and I don't like a customer who rambles on like this" snipped Swindle. Megatron looked back at him which caused him to flinch. "I mean…I don't mean any disrespect or anything, but I kinda' prefer to keep the deal going rather than…going into unnecessary stuff…once again, no disrespect intended!"

"None taken" said Megatron "I too would much rather get this over and done with. These weapons that you've shown me so far are ones we have in large supply within the armory. I would not go to the difficulty of dealing with you if the weapon I seek is one I already possess. I want one of rarer and more powerful caliber; because I have special plans for these weapons, plans that cannot be achieve with standard ordnance. And I should remind you that I can pay a very worthy price for it?" Swindle began to scratch his chin in deep thought.

"Really?" said Swindle "Sounds…intriguing to say the least. Tell you what, I'll let you in on a little secret; this storeroom right here is only where I keep my standard weapons. I've got bigger guns in more…undisclosed areas. How about this; meet me at the border of this country at…shall we say, what them Humans call "9:30" at night. I'll be there and I'll have some weapons that might…interest you, if you know what I mean by that"

"You have a deal" said Megatron.

"Excellent!" said Swindle "Oh; and bring energon, lots and lots of energon"

 _Meanwhile_

Optimus and the other Autobots waited around for their replacement liaison who they knew would be arriving any time soon. Bumblebee and Arcee had already dropped Melody off and were now pacing back and forth with absolute anxiety. Jazz leant his back against a nearby wall and looked around at his surroundings cautiously yet calmly. Ratchet tapped his fingers against the edge of Teletraan I with unease as he tried to calm himself down over the situation. Everyone's tension was soon broken when the sound of the proximity sensors signaled out.

"Well, here they come" said Prowl. The elevator in front of them opened up and two soldiers stepped out and stood at either side of its entrance. Following behind them was a Human woman with auburn hair, green eyes, and fair skin who wore a white and blue outfit.

"Men, at ease" said the woman in a commanding tone "Well; Optimus Prime, I believe"

"That is correct" said Optimus "On behalf of the Autobots; I welcome you to the _Ark_ "

"A pleasure meeting you" said the woman "Agent Marissa Faireborn; as you may know, I've been sent by the U.S. government to act as your new liaison while Agent Bluestone is otherwise…occupied. I hope we can work efficiently and cooperatively" Ratchet observed the two soldiers with uncertainty. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing" replied Ratchet.

"We just weren't expecting an armed escort like this" said Prowl "Care to explain?" It was at that moment that the other Autobots eyed him with disbelief and concern as if he had just set off a nuclear bomb.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I suppose we can get down to business" said Marissa "It is what I came here for after all. As you may know, the government has been…uneasy about the state of your operation"

"From what we've heard, that's putting it lightly" said Prowl. Ignoring his statement, Marissa looked across the room and internally counted each of the Autobots surrounding her.

"There appears to be only six of your present" said Prowl "Unless I'm much mistaken, there are supposed to be more of you" Prowl scowled in response

"The others are out on patrols at the moment" replied Ratchet "Hunting for energon deposits and keeping an eye out for Decepticon activity; which, by the way, we've been ever vigilant for ever since what happened"

"We still have much to discuss however" said Marissa.

"That I can agree on" said Optimus "Were you hoping to discuss now?"

"Not exactly" replied Marissa "Optimus Prime, so we can get to know each other and exchange notes, I've scheduled a meeting between us two tonight" She pulled out a printed note and placed it on the railing of the platform. "This note contains information on the time and location. I will see you then" She entered the elevator with the two soldiers and disappeared.

"I wouldn't exactly call that the "warmest" welcome ever" said Bumblebee.

"You can say that again" said Arcee. Optimus picked up the note carefully with his fingers and examined it closely and carefully:

" _9:00 pm_

 _Nebraska military base_

 _Building 4_

 _Meet you then"_

"Do you think she's dissatisfied with us?" asked Ratchet "I mean, she did mention the government's concerns with us"

"That remains to be seen" replied Optimus.

 _Meanwhile on the Nemesis_

"You can't be serious!" snapped Slipstream "Don't tell me you trust that hydro-weasel?!"

"I trust him to possess what I want" replied Megatron "And I also trust him want much from me in exchange for it. However, I don't trust him to go through with the deal without any causing complications"

"That's an understatement" said Slipstream "It's as if greed is built into his personality component"

"Which is why we will take extra precaution when we make the deal" said Megatron "Soundwave, assemble the others and let them know of the deal. The moment Swindle arrives, we'll make sure he cannot escaped"

"As you command, Lord Megatron" said Soundwave.

"No one will get in our way this time" said Megatron "Not even Optimus Prime and his precious Autobots"

 _Later_

Ratchet activated the ground bridge and opened up the swirling blue portal in front of them.

"There, the ground bridge should lead you to the location" said Ratchet.

"Thank you, Ratchet" said Optimus as he walked over towards the portal that lay in front of them.

"Optimus, can I have a word with you for a moment?" asked Prowl.

"What is it, Prowl?" asked Optimus.

"About tonight; I trust you to what's right, but try not to act submissive and don't be afraid to speak your mind if something concerns you" replied Prowl "I know that the wellbeing of the Humans worries you, but never forget about our wellbeing either"

"Prowl, this is their planet and we are only guests here" said Optimus "While we remain on their surface, we must abide by their wishes and rules; however, I will go along with things blindly and will voice my concern when I feel truly unsure about their decisions"

"I know that" said Prowl "I'm just saying don't let them take advantage of us. I know that freedom is everybody's right, but sometimes you have to make a hard decision and put your foot down"

"I understood what it meant to be a leader the day I became a Prime" said Optimus "And then the war came and gave me experience. I understand the difficulties of decision making and their consequences. I will do what I can to bring the best of both worlds together"

"I certainly hope so" said Prowl "Just…remember what I said" Optimus nodded in response.

"I will" said Optimus. He then turned towards the ground bridge portal, transformed, and drove through it. After arriving on the other side, he found himself in the middle of a U.S. military base in Nebraska. Having looked over Marissa's short note to memorize it thoroughly in case it contained something important that he could not afford to miss, he cautiously began strolling along the site until he eventually reached a building labeled "4". The door to the building was opened slightly and he could see light shining from the inside. Although he was sure that the building was the one he was supposed to go to, he still felt uneasy about entering it in robot mode so he instead rolled up to the door slowly and silently until he heard a familiar voice cry out.

"You can come in as yourself now, Prime" said Marissa's voice "No one's here but me" In response to this, Optimus transformed, slowly slid open the doors to the building, and entered inside. After examining the base for a few seconds, he looked down in front of himself to see Marissa sitting at a table in front of him. "I am glad you could make it"

"Thank you, Agent Faireborn" said Optimus.

"Now, take a seat" said Marissa "Let us talk"

 _Meanwhile_

Prowl stood in front of the ground bridge area and paced around in front of Bumblebee, Arcee, and Jazz.

"I had hoped Optimus would be present for all of this; but given how the information came late and after Agent Faireborn organized the meeting with Optimus, that factor was left unavailable" said Prowl.

"So what's the problem, Prowl?" asked Jazz.

"Only an hour ago, I received information detailing an arrangement Megatron has organized" replied Prowl.

"Well, looks like he finally stepped out of the shadows" said Bumblebee.

"So what kind of arrangement are we talking about here?" asked Jazz.

"A weapons deal to be precise" replied Prowl "Megatron's planning something big and it involves a powerful new weapon to make it happen. I don't know anything about what it is exactly; but knowing Megatron, it can't be good"

"So who is expected to give to him?" asked Ratchet.

"An old friend of ours" replied Prowl "Swindle"

"That Decepticon arms dealer?" said Jazz "Haven't heard from him in a long while"

"He's scheduled a meeting with Megatron around 9:30 pm at the borders of Utah" said Prowl "Knowing Swindle, the transaction itself won't go smoothly; but Megatron will no doubt be prepared for that and come with backup at the ready. Either way; we cannot allow this weapon, no matter what it is, we cannot allow Megatron to get his hands on it. We've only just got out of his last scheme and we can't afford any more like it. Are there any questions?" Jazz stroked his chin for a few seconds.

"Disregarding the information on the weapon itself, you seem to be pretty detailed on this new leak of information" said Jazz.

"What are you implying?" asked Prowl.

"I'm just curious is all" replied Jazz "Care to explain how you got it?"

"I've…been keeping tabs on the Decepticons ever since what happened" replied Prowl "It's imperative that we keep a close eye on their movements"

"Wasn't that long ago" said Jazz "You sure have been one busy bee" Bumblebee rolled his optics in response to the remark.

"I'm quite curious about that myself" said Ratchet "This is quite a big thing and I doubt Megatron would allow intel like that to slip, not to mention it hasn't been that long ago. Care to elaborate on how you were able to keep tabs on the Decepticons in such detail?"

"I'll explain it another time, but right now we have to stop that weapons deal and get our hands on that weapon before Megatron can" replied Prowl.

"Okay then" said Ratchet as he started typing into the ground bridge controls "I'll just locate and inform the others first and then we're all set" As he was about to place his hand on the ground bridge lever, Prowl grabbed it and pulled it away.

"Not yet" said Prowl "First send the four of us to Utah"

"Are you crazy?!" snapped Ratchet "Megatron will most likely be there and so will a good number of Decepticons, all of whom will be prepared to shoot at the slightest hint of betrayal in Swindle"

"It will take some time to locate where the deal is taking place exactly, so we have to use the time we have to locate them before engaging" said Prowl "In fact, I'd much rather not have to deal with Megatron himself; I'd prefer it if we intercepted Swindle before he made contact with the other Decepticons, and for that we'd need stealth"

"Can we at least contact Optimus first and tell him what we're doing?" asked Arcee.

"No" replied Prowl "He's busy at the moment with Agent Faireborn and we can't distract him, no matter what. The last thing we need is for the Human government to lose faith in our capabilities and start micromanaging us. We're doing this ourselves right now. Ratchet, open the ground bridge to the border of Utah; and after you send us through, contact the others out on patrol and bring them back to base. Quickly brief them about what happened and then send them to our coordinates; I'm hoping to avoid any confrontation with Megatron and instead deal with Swindle alone, but we have to be prepared for the worst"

"Understood" said Ratchet with a somewhat reluctant tone as he typed the location into the ground bridge controls and activated it.

"Let's roll" said Prowl as he, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Arcee transformed and drove through the portal.

 _Meanwhile_

"The truth is…I want to cooperate with the Autobots without inferring" said Marissa "This is your war and I'd prefer to leave it at that"

"Why do I get the feeling that there's more to it than that?" said Optimus.

"That's how I want things to go" said Marissa "However, things don't always go the preferred way. The deal was that we let you stay on our planet and help keep your war and your existence under wraps, and in return you deal with the Decepticons in a quiet and safe manner while making sure they stay away from populated areas to avoid any collateral damage. However, that last part seems to have been bent lately; and in case you need some prompts, let me remind you of previous incidents. Earlier this year, the Decepticons launched a full out attack upon Carson City; although there were no Human casualties, the property damage was insurmountable and we're still having trouble keeping the witnesses quiet. And on top of that, there was the incident with your homeplanet and…well, I think we've heard enough about it lately so we spare the details; the point is, these results aren't good enough. As I said before, I don't want any troubles between us; but mark my words, incidents like this that result in collateral damage and civilians at risk must never happen again. From this moment forth, consider my presence to be a bond of trust. Abide by that trust, and everything will be fine; break that trust, and we'll be taking direct command of this operation. I don't want this, but I will do what is necessary. Are we clear?"

"Very clear" replied Optimus "I understand why you're doing this, Agent Faireborn; you're doing what you believe is best for your people and I respect that greatly. I too hope that things can run smoothly from now on as well"

"I very much appreciate that, Prime" said Marissa "Now back to business; the night isn't over just yet"

 _Meanwhile in Spain_

Bulkhead and Wheeljack drove along a road in the mountains of Spain when they heard their comlinks buzzing abruptly.

"Bulkhead, Wheeljack; an incident has come up and you're to return to base immediately" said Ratchet through their comlinks "I'm preparing a ground bridge for you now"

"Got it" said Bulkhead into his comlink "Finally, something other than these constant patrols!"

"You're telling me!" said Wheeljack.

 _Meanwhile in Africa_

Ironhide sat under the shade of a large tree as Breakaway flew down and transformed in front of him.

"No sign of the Decepticons or the _Nemesis_ as far as I can see" said Breakaway.

"Keep looking" said Ironhide "As long as we're out here, we might as well make sure everything's clear"

"Ironhide, Breakaway; you're to come back to base immediately for an emergency" said Ratchet out of their comlinks "I'm sending a ground bridge to you now"

"Alright, let's do it then!" said Ironhide into his comlink.

 _Meanwhile in South America_

Hound used a pair of electronic binoculars to survey the rainforest landscape around him as he searched for any sign of the Decepticons. As he lowered his binoculars, Mirage appeared next to him.

"Any luck on your end?" asked Hound.

"I'm afraid not" said Mirage "I swear…Prowl's becoming really paranoid. Who'd expect to just find Decepticons out here without evidence beforehand?"

"He probably just wants to make sure everything's fine" said Hound "I mean, you know him" Mirage looked away with disdain at the mention of Prowl's nature.

"Hound, Mirage; I'm sending a ground bridge your way" said Ratchet out of their comlinks "Something's come up and we need all available Autobots for it"

"Alright then" said Hound "We'll come back to base the moment the bridge opens up"

 _Meanwhile_

Swindle drove along the Utah road towards the state's border. Something was tied to his roof and was covered in a beige and dirty cloth that appeared to strap it down tight. As he reached the state border, Megatron awaited him with full force. Next to him stood Slipstream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Dead End, and Hailstorm with various Vehicons surrounding them. When he got up to them, he transformed with the clothed item still attached to his back.

"Finally; you've arrived at last, Swindle" said Megatron.

"I'm not one to back out of a deal, Lord Megatron" said Swindle "Especially one from you" From atop a nearby hill, Prowl watched them carefully with Jazz, Bumblebee, and Arcee by his side. He carefully adjusted his visor to zoom in on Megatron and Swindle to observe what they were doing.

"Whatever happened to "intercepting Swindle"?" asked Bumblebee quietly.

"That was how I would have preferred it to go, but it's too late to do that now that he's made contact with Megatron" replied Prowl quietly "Our best option for the moment is to wait here for the others to arrive, then we'll take the Decepticons and try to get ahold of the weapon before they can escape with it"

"I certainly hope so" said Megatron "Now, show it to me"

"Alrighty!" said Swindle sleazily as he began to unstrap the object on his back.

"He's making his move" said Prowl quietly. Swindle pulled the cloth off and revealed the weapon underneath.

"I present to you the weapon I promised…" said Swindle. In his hands lay a pair of large cannons with three claw-like appendages at the barrel. "…the E.D.K. TechVolt!" Prowl gasped under his breath. "This thing can cause some real damage with its electrical prowess, not to mention it can charge and power machinery if applied correctly"

"I'd prefer a demonstration before purchasing it" said Megatron.

"Gladly!" said Swindle. He turned one of the E.D.K. TechVolts towards a nearby hill, slowly charged the weapon up, and finally blasted a powerful electrical beam towards the hill. In what seemed like an instant, the hill exploded and crumbled in on itself. This result left both Autobots and Decepticons present to look on in awe (except for Megatron, who only seemed intrigued). "And that's just the half of it"

"Very good" said Megatron "I'll take them both!"

"Excellent!" said Swindle "Now, my payment…" He extended his hand out in an avaricious fashion.

"Of course" said Megatron. He lifted his hand in the air to signal and the Vehicons who began to hand energon cubes over to Swindle. The Decepticon arms dealer began to stroke his chin as he examined the energon cubes that lay in front of him.

"Hmmm…" said Swindle.

"If you require more, I can supply it within a reasonable limit" said Megatron.

"Hmmm…" said Swindle "I'm not so sure…about the energon, I mean"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Slipstream.

"Well…as nice as the energon is, I'm not sure if it reaches the caliber that my items have" replied Swindle.

"Explain" said Slipstream.

"What I'm saying is that I'm handing you extremely exceptional weapons and I'm only getting energon in return" said Swindle "I think something of greater value is in order"

"What exactly do you mean by "greater value?"" asked Megatron. Swindle began eyeing his right arm with great interest.

"I'd like something of similar quality in return" replied Swindle "The fusion cannon on your right arm just so happens to fit the description" Megatron looked down at his fusion cannon and a look of disdain befell on his face.

"What are you playing at, Swindle?!" asked Megatron.

"It's quite a prize possession; in fact, I'd say a number of individuals on the black market would love to have a piece of it, figuratively of course" replied Swindle "Hand over the fusion cannon and I'll hand over the TechVolts. How's that? Have we got a deal?" Megatron reached for a remote behind his back and pressed a button on it.

"No deal" replied Megatron.

"Alright then, your loss" said Swindle as he began to turn around to leave "I mean, I was really feelin' generous and surely these would've made up for the loss of your precious fusion—" At that moment, a pair of Vehicon jets swooped down, transformed, and landed in front of him.

"You're not going anywhere" said Megatron as he walked over to Swindle in an intimidating manner "I tried being reasonable with you; but you just had to get carried with it, didn't you?"

"Okay…" said Swindle as he quickly turned around to face Megatron "I'll admit, I was out of my league then; but how about I make it up to you, okay? If you really can't bear to part with that cannon of yours and the TechVolts aren't enough to equal it, how about I through in a little extra then? Just let me get back to my ship and—"

"And give you the chance to escape?!" snapped Megatron.

"Where am I supposed to go?" said Swindle "My ship's fragged so it ain't making it off this hunk of rock anytime soon"

"Swindle…" said Megatron.

"Yes…um, almighty Lord Megatron?" said Swindle sheepishly.

"I'll give you one last chance; hand over the weapons now!" snarled Megatron.

"Um…uh…um…" stuttered Swindle.

"Yep, this outcome was pretty much inevitable" said Jazz quietly.

"This is our last chance" said Prowl quietly "Let's rush in and grab Swindle before the other Decepticons can spot us. Ratchet, get a ground bridge ready and activate it on my mark"

"Understood, Prowl" said Ratchet through his comlink.

"Wait a minute, what about the others?" asked Bumblebee quietly "Shouldn't we wait for them first before making a move like this?"

"If we wait any longer, either Megatron will take the weapons from Swindle by force or Swindle will take off with them and the Decepticons will follow him" replied Prowl quietly "Neither option is too desirable; if we're going to make a move, we have to make it now"

"Not so fast!" said a voice. The four of them looked up to see Barricade and a group of Vehicons standing in front of them with their blasters pointed towards them.

"Barricade!" said Bumblebee.

"One more step and you're all dead!" said Barricade "Lord Megatron, we've discovered four Autobots not far from your location"

"Bring them to me, Barricade" said Megatron through his comlink.

"Affirmative" said Barricade into his comlink "Stand up, you four" The four of them didn't move. "I said stand up NOW!"

"Do as he says" said Prowl.

"What?" said Arcee.

"Just do it" said Prowl "They have us outnumbered" The four of them reluctantly stood up.

"Now hands up!" snapped Barricade. The four of them placed their hands up in defeat. "Good, now this way" He and the Vehicons then led the four Autobots down towards Megatron. "Lord Megatron, here are the Autobots I was talking about"

"Excellent work, Barricade" said Megatron "Are there anymore?"

"From what we've gathered, no" replied Barricade.

"Keep looking" said Megatron "We need to be certain that these are the only ones"

"Yes, my lord" said Barricade. Swindle instinctively tried to make a run for it but was quickly grabbed on the shoulder by Megatron.

"Don't try it, Swindle; I'll deal with you next!" said Megatron. He then turned back to the Autobots with an evil grin. "So, did Optimus really send you four to deal with me or did you happen upon our meeting by mistake?"

"None of your business" said Prowl.

"I expected as much from you" said Megatron. Thundercracker began to look wary of his surroundings. "No matter, we'll find good use of you soon enough"

"Lord Megatron, I think we should get back to the _Nemesis_ " said Thundercracker "Something doesn't feel right here"

"Loosen up, Thundercracker!" said Skywarp "What's the worst that could happen?" At that moment, the sound of engines echoed across the landscape as Bulkhead, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Hound, and Mirage drove up to them at blinding speed.

"More Autobots?" said Slipstream. It was then that Swindle transformed and drove off.

"No!" snarled Megatron "Blitzwing, Astrotrain; go after Swindle and retrieve the cannons to me in one piece!"

"On it!" said Astrotrain as he and Blitzwing flew out from behind a nearby rock formation and sped towards Swindle. Before Barricade could even react, Prowl grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him in close, and kicked him in the face.

"Bumblebee, Arcee; go after Swindle!" ordered Prowl "Don't let the Decepticons get ahold of him or his weapons!"

"On it!" said Bumblebee and Arcee as they transformed and drove after Swindle. Megatron turned in their direction, raised his fusion cannon towards them, and charged it up. In response, Jazz quickly pulled out his pair of nunchucks, rushed over to Megatron, and entangled them onto his arm and pulled it down which caused the blast to hit the ground instead. As soon as Megatron felt something wrapped around his arm, he turned around, grabbed the nunchucks, and pulled it, causing Jazz to come flying towards him. As Megatron was about to slam the Autobot into the ground, Jazz swung upwards and landed on his shoulders.

"You wanna' piece of me?" said Jazz "You wanna' piece!?" Suddenly, Megatron transformed and flew up into the air before plummeting down at lightning speed. But as they approached the ground, Jazz leapt off and landed next to Prowl.

"Are you alright?" asked Prowl.

"I've had worse" replied Jazz "Slipstream used to take me for joyrides back in the day, I got pretty beat up from those" At that moment, Megatron flew down and transformed in front of them.

"Give it up, Megatron!" said Prowl as he pulled out several shurikens. Megatron seemed to ignore his statement and instead starting observing the battle around him as the Autobots clashed with his Decepticon followers.

"I couldn't help but notice that all of you are present here, except for two" said Megatron "Optimus and Ratchet; the latter is no doubt back at your base, so that leaves Optimus unaccounted for. Surely this is a situation he would not miss; so tell me, where is he now?"

"None of your business" replied Prowl.

"Fair enough, I'll just deal with you two now!" said Megatron. He retracted his blade out and lunged at the two of them.

 _Meanwhile_

Swindle raced along the terrain, being followed closely behind by Blitzwing and Astrotrain.

"We almost have him" said Astrotrain "Sucker may be an expert on weapons, but he ain't fast enough to deal with us!"

"That is correct" said Blitzwing "If we continue like this, we should catch up to him in no time" At that moment, Swindle's scatter blaster turned towards the two of them and fired wildly.

"Scrap!" exclaimed Astrotrain as he and Blitzwing evaded the shots "This guy sure packs a punch"

"He may not be able to fly, but his weapons systems seem to make up for that disadvantage on this particular playing field" said Blitzwing.

"Very sharp-eyed" said Astrotrain "I must admit, that ice face of yours is actually quite useful in this scenario. I just hope it stays that way" At that moment, Bumblebee and Arcee drove up behind Swindle and began chasing him. "Dammit', Autobots!"

" **WHERE ARE THEY!** " snarled Blitzwing as he began transforming into his tank mode " **I'll blast those Autobrats! Oh slag, not again!** " He plummeted and crashed into the ground below.

"Scrap, I just called that one on myself" growled Astrotrain to himself "Oh well!" Swindle aimed his scatter blaster at Bumblebee and Arcee and began firing rapidly.

"Stay out of this, Autobots!" snapped Swindle "I've got enough on my plate at the moment without dealing with the likes of you!" Astrotrain began shooting at the three of them at an alarming rate.

"If we keep this up, all three of us will end up deep-fried" said Arcee.

"And he doesn't care about the state of us either, other than Swindle being "intact enough"" said Bumblebee.

"Scrap it!" snapped Swindle. He shook off the pair of TechVolts and let them roll off onto the ground behind him. "Fine, keep them! I hope they jam on you!"

"Finally!" said Astrotrain as he began descending down "Come to me!"

"No you don't!" said a voice. Suddenly, Breakaway swooped down and landed on top of Astrotrain. "Go get Swindle; I've got this one!"

"Make sure to keep the cannons away from them" said Bumblebee.

"On it" said Breakaway. As Bumblebee and Arcee drove off after Swindle, Breakaway pushed Astrotrain down until he crashed into a nearby rock formation. Breakaway leapt off and rolled onto the ground. As he got himself up, he quickly caught sight of the TechVolts laying a few meters in front of him. In what seemed like an instant, he got himself up and rushed over towards the cannons in front of him only for Blitzwing to walk up to them and pick them up.

" _I wonder what these can do!_ " said Blitzwing. He turned his sights towards Breakaway and raised the cannons in his direction. " _And I found the perfect test subject!_ " He laughed maniacally and began charging up the cannons.

"Uh oh!" said Breakaway. As the electrical beam shot out, Breakaway quickly ducked down away from the blast.

" _Let's try again, shall we?!_ " laughed Blitzwing as he charged up the cannons again.

 _Meanwhile_

Swindle drove until he finally reached a dead end within a group of rock formations and transformed.

"Damn it!" snapped Swindle. Bumblebee and Arcee drove up to him, transformed, and turned their hands into their blasters. "Scrap!"

"We've got you cornered, Swindle" said Arcee "You're outnumbered and outgunned"

"Yeah, may as well put it in park" smirked Bumblebee. To their surprises, Swindle smirked viciously.

"What's with the smirk?" asked Arcee.

"Outnumbered; yeah, I think you got me beat there" said Swindle "But outgunned? Please, don't make me laugh!"

"Hmm, let's see; four blasters here versus one blaster over there" said Bumblebee "That sounds like outgunned to me

"You really think I'd make a living as an expert and dealer on weapons and yet not come equipped with more than one of my items?" said Swindle "Watch and learn, kiddos!" Suddenly, a pair of cannons retracted out of his shoulders and were followed by a gyro gun on his right wrist, a telekinetic ray on his left wrist, and a gatling gun out of his chest. "And if that wasn't enough, try this!" A pair of force-field projectors retracted out of his shoulders and released a purple force-field that surrounded himself and his weapons. He began shooting at them wildly. "Time to blow you all away!"

 _Meanwhile_

Blitzwing fired wildly at Breakaway as he desperately evaded the electric blasts.

" _Eat lightning, Autobot!_ " laughed Blitzwing " _It's gonna' sting a lot! Ha ha ha ha!_ **And it will hurt!** " He began to fire with his dual–barreled tank cannons as well which made dodging the shots fired even more difficult for Breakaway.

"This guy's really gone crazy" said Breakaway quietly to himself "I've gotta' find a way to get those off him" Suddenly, Blitzwing began blasting at him with all four cannons at the same time. "Now this is just bad!" He quickly transformed and flew up into the air.

" **You wanna' play games with me, Autobot!** " snarled Blitzwing " **Do ya'!** " He began shooting at Breakaway again but the aerial Autobot only evaded his blasts and zoomed closer and closer towards him. " **Just die already!** And for that to happen, this particular situation requires more precision" He carefully aimed one of the TechVolts towards Breakaway, slowly charged it up, and finally blasted it out with full force. The beam hit Breakaway in the wing and caused him to swivel down and crashed right in front of the Triple-Changer. " _VOOOM! You went down like a little balloon! So much for being a flier! Ha ha ha ha!_ " He aimed the TechVolts at the downed Breakaway and began to charge them up again, ready to finish him off. " _Nighty night!_ "

"Eh, don't mess around with those things!" snapped Astrotrain as he walked up to Blitzwing and grabbed ahold the TechVolts. "Lord Megatron wants to save those, remember? Soundwave, we have the weapons from the drop off; give us a ground bridge already so we can get out of here"

"Affirmative" said Soundwave out of his comlink. A ground bridge opened up in front of the two Triple-Changers and they rushed through it with the TechVolts in hand.

"No…" wheezed Breakaway.

 _Meanwhile_

Prowl leapt back as Megatron slashed towards him and threw three shurikens at him which he deflected with his blade. Jazz slid up to him and shot him several times but Megatron grabbed ahold of him by the arm and threw him aside. Prowl readied his shurikens again and prepared himself to attack again. Megatron reciprocated the action.

"Lord Megatron, Blitzwing and Astrotrain have returned to the _Nemesis_ with the weapon you desire" said Soundwave out of Megatron's comlink.

"Prepare a ground bridge for us, Soundwave" said Megatron into his comlink "We're heading back immediately"

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave. A ground bridge portal appeared in front of them.

"Give my regards to Optimus, and remind him that he's failed on this one" said Megatron as he and the other Decepticons rushed through the portal and disappeared.

"So, looks like Megatron got the weapons after all" said Jazz "Now what are we gonna' do?"

"With the weapons gone, our first objective is to catch up with Bumblebee and Arcee and see if we can still capture Swindle" replied Prowl.

"Right!" said Jazz as he and Prowl transformed and drove off.

 _Meanwhile_

Swindle fired away at Bumblebee and Arcee who desperately dodged his shots and fired back at him, only for the blasts to deflect away on the shield.

"Shooting at an energy field?" said Swindle "Please, like that's ever going to work!" He fired back at them with full force.

"This guy just isn't quitting, is he?" said Arcee.

"He's basically a living arsenal" said Bumblebee "Worst yet, we can't even reach him thanks to that force-field surrounding him"

"What will it take to break through?" asked Arcee.

"More firepower than we have" replied Bumblebee. Swindle fired wildly again and began using his telekinetic ray to throw nearby rocks at them.

"Please, this is the best the Autobots have?" said Swindle "I've had more difficulty crushing antroids!"

"I don't know what's more annoying, your gunfire or your big mouth" said Bumblebee.

"Oh, I get it; you're trying to tick me off so I can just lose it and you can take advantage of that" said Swindle "Guess what, that ain't happening; and if it did, I'd still have this energy field to back me up. So I'd say I got you two beat!"

"You really wanna' bet that!" yelled a voice. Suddenly, Bulkhead dropped down from the sky in front of Swindle with his hands turned into maces and looking ready to fight.

"Bulkhead!" said Bumblebee and Arcee simultaneously.

"Where'd you come from?!" exclaimed Swindle.

"Same place the rest of them will come from" replied Bulkhead. Wheeljack, Hound, and Mirage drove up from his left and transformed while Jazz and Prowl appeared on his right and followed suit.

"Well, this is quite a turn up for the books" said Swindle.

"Swindle, don't bother fighting back; you'd only be wasting all our time, including your own" said Prowl "You can't win against all of us, surrender!"

"Aren't you forgetting that I have this energy field surrounding me?" said Swindle "I think I have the edge here"

"Energy fields have limits" said Prowl "All we have to do is figure out yours; it'll take time, but I know for a fact that we can last it out long enough. What I don't know however is how long you'll last out"

"You've got to be kidding me!" said Swindle.

"You'll find out in three…" said Prowl "One…two…th—"

"Alright, alright, sheesh!" groaned Swindle.

"Good, now cease weaponry and lower the shields" said Prowl. Swindle groaned.

"It really ticks me off when you Autobots have a point" said Swindle. At that moment, he pulled a small bomb-like device from his hip and held it in front of him. "And it also really ticks me off that you've forced me to use this!" He activated the device and dropped it in front of him.

"Look out!" exclaimed Jazz "It could be a bomb, take cover!" As the Autobots desperately rushed out of the area to avoid, a white flash of light emitted from the device which enveloped the entire area in an almost blinding fashion. By the time the light had died down, Swindle had vanished without a trace. "Scrap, he's gone"

"He must have used a transwarp capsule" said Prowl "A black market device that sends the user to a designated location of their choosing. They're hard to manufacture so that makes them extremely rare, that explains why he was reluctant to use them"

"Until he knew we had him beat" said Jazz.

"So what's next?" asked Wheeljack.

"We head back to the _Ark_ where I expect to hear a full mission report from all of you…" said Prowl. He turned his sights towards Bumblebee. "…and I expect them to be thorough" Bumblebee clenched his fists in response.

 _Meanwhile_

Flatline looked over the two TechVolts with great interest and observation.

"Yes…these should do nicely" said Flatline as he caressed the two weapons.

"And if what Blitzwing and Astrotrain said is true, these weapons are very effective with taking out Autobots" said Megatron "They will serve their purpose well" He looked over to the scorpion in the tank and grinned evilly. "And thus Project: Predacon takes its next step forward"

 **Author's note #1** : Just so everything's clear; yes, that bipedal two-headed dragon Predacon was a reference to Hun-Grrr.

 **Author's note #2** : Since this is my first time back, I feel that I might be a little rusty in places and I'm always open for advice so feel free to give me feedback to tell me what you think. This season will have a focus on Predacons because I always liked the idea of the Predacons in _Transformers: Prime_ season 3 but I also felt it wasn't as expanded upon as it could have been so I hope to give them a bigger role in my series. Until next time.


	2. A Matter of Family

**Author's note** : This one took longer than expected since I'm still finding my feet again but hopefully the pace will pick up as the story goes along. Until then, I hope to release at least two more chapters before the end of this year but I'll try not to push it too hard since quality is my primary concern.

 _Suburbs of Carson City_

Bumblebee and Arcee drove up along the street and stopped at the sidewalk next to Bobby's house.

"The directions lead to this place" said Bumblebee as Melody stepped out from his front door.

"This is it" said Melody "We're here"

"Do you want us to help you out with the unpacking?" asked Arcee.

"I think we both know that would be more problematic than useful" said Melody "Last I checked, one of your Autobot rules was "no transforming in public""

"True, but it's still quite early and we might get away with it" smirked Bumblebee.

"Prowl and Ratchet will probably kill us" said Arcee.

"Just let me and Bobby handle the unpacking" said Melody. She turned towards the house and started walking up to it. It was early in the morning but not too early so she was sure that Bobby was up, if not his parents probably would be instead and he had okayed her stay with them first before giving her the offer. As she reached the door, she rang the doorbell and it was answered by Bobby himself.

"Melody, you're here" said Bobby "A bit earlier than expected"

"I had help" said Melody as she pointed her thumb over to Bumblebee and Arcee "Thanks for letting me stay with you and your family by the way, I really appreciate it"

"Any time" said Bobby "I'm just glad to be of help" Melody smiled in response but soon began to look down with an upset look. "Is something wrong?"

"It's about my mom" said Melody "I really hope she's okay. It's only been two days since she disappeared, but for some reason it feels longer"

"It's going to be okay" said Bobby "I mean, Optimus cares about all of us so surely he'd place this as a high priority"

"You're right, you're right" said Melody "We've got the Autobots watching out for us so everything should be fine. I filed a missing person for the local police, but I doubt they'd have a chance against Decepticons"

"Yeah…" said Bobby "So, should we bring your stuff inside?"

"Yeah, let's do it" said Melody. The two of them walked over to Bumblebee and Arcee and opened Bumblebee's back door. "I didn't bring much, but I felt it was better to take my own essentials with me than simply being a hassle with your parents"

"You just saved my dad a whole lot of money" said Bobby "We threw out our spare mattress last week so at least you don't have to sleep on the floor now"

"That's one thing off my mind" smirked Melody.

"And hopefully some more things off my load" said Bumblebee.

"Oh, sorry!" said Melody. She and Bobby began to unload the baggage from Bumblebee's backseat and placed them on the sidewalk.

"All this talk of family is starting to remind me of my sisters" said Arcee.

"I never knew you had sisters" said Melody.

"Well, I don't exactly talk about them that much" said Arcee "We're not exactly on good terms, so to speak. I only really brought them up again because…because I'm wondering how they're doing back on Cybertron"

"So what were they like?" asked Bobby.

"Well, I'd be what you'd call the "middle child"" replied Arcee "My younger sister Moonracer is very enthusiastic and very eager to please, but she's a great sharpshooter on the field; she even bragged once that she was the best in the universe. Then there's my older sister Chromia. She's a member of the Autobot Elite Guard and had earned the rank of captain last time I checked…" She seemed to trail off.

"Is something wrong?" asked Melody.

"Arcee gets a little distressed when talking about Ch—" replied Bumblebee.

"It's fine, Bee" said Arcee "I've got this handled. Chromia was a little…controlling and she had a certain vision for the two of us to follow. I didn't agree with where she wanted me to go so…we sort of had a falling out and I've never seen her or Moonracer"

"My god!" said Melody "Your own sister…"

"Time heals all wounds" said Arcee "It was stay with her and live the life she wanted for me or go off and do my own thing. But still, I hope they're alright"

 _Meanwhile on Cybertron_

Within the dark landscape of Cybertron's crumbling cities, a light teal Cybertronian motorcycle drove across at high speed while being chased by a group of Vehicon cars. As the motorcycle was about to escape the area, a group of Vehicon cars drove up in front of her and blocked off her escape.

"Autobot, surrender now or be destroyed!" snarled one of the Vehicons. Suddenly, the motorcycle transformed into a small female Autobot with blue optics who quickly leapt over the barricaded road, pulled out a blaster rifle, and began shooting at the Vehicons below her before landing on the other side.

"That's what you get for messing with the best sharpshooter in the universe!" smirked the Autobot. A group of Vehicon jets swooped down, transformed, and landed around her with their blasters pointed at her. "Oh scrap; forgot about them!" Suddenly, a blue Cybertronian car appeared, accelerated up on the road, knocked down several Vehicons, before transforming into a female Autobot with blue optics who turned her hands into blasters and began shooting at the Vehicons surrounding her.

"Sister, up!" snapped the blue Autobot. The teal Autobot stretched up straight before the blue Autobot grabbed her hand. "Now, let's get out of here!" She quickly pulled the teal Autobot off before dropping a smoke grenade to cover themselves.

 _A few minutes later_

"What were you thinking!?" snapped the blue Autobot.

"I was just scouting ahead so—" replied the teal Autobot.

"Moonracer, it's extremely dangerous out there!" said the blue Autobot "This city is not far from Kaon so Shockwave sends out regular patrols to monitor any signs of Autobot activity here. If you're not careful enough, you'll end up dead"

"I know, I know" said Moonracer "But I tried to be subtle"

"Well, obviously that wasn't good enough and you almost got yourself killed because of it" said the blue Autobot "Just…Just don't worry me like that ever again…" She closed her eyes and began rubbing a large scar on her right cheek.

"Chromia…are you thinking of Arcee?" asked Moonracer. Chromia clenched her teeth in response and turned away. "Sorry, I just—"

"Arcee's not here, so there's no reason to think about her" said Chromia. As Moonracer almost flinched at her response, a hint of guilt befell Chromia and she sighed. "Let's not think about the past right now, we've got a mission to do. C'mon, let's get going" The two of them got themselves up and began walking over towards a large building in the middle of the city.

 **A Matter of Family**

 _The Ark_

Breakaway lay on a bed in the medical bay as Ratchet welded his wing back together.

"Ow!" exclaimed Breakaway "Ow! Cutting it a bit close for my liking"

"If getting stuck back together is such a pain, then try not to get shot out on the battlefield" said Ratchet "You're lucky that shot didn't hit anywhere closer otherwise the damage would probably be irreversible"

"Damn!" said Breakaway "I like flying, I don't think I could settle for some ground vehicle"

"Lucky for you, I'm around" said Ratchet. As the two of them talked, Wheeljack hovered around behind them in the background and attempted to seem nonchalant. As he paced up and down the medical bay, Ratchet sighed in irritation. "What is it you want, Wheeljack?"

"Oh; nothing much, nothing much…" replied Wheeljack "I just had some…well, ideas for modifications to Breakaway's person. I mean; while he's still under the knife, we may as well—"

"Whatever it is, Wheeljack, forget it" said Ratchet.

"But I didn't even explain how it works yet!" said Wheeljack.

"As a medic, my job is to make sure that my patients are in better condition than when they come in" said Ratchet "I'd prefer it if your inventions were not involved with any of it, I'm worried it might only make it worse"

"Make it worse or make it better?" said Wheeljack. There was no response. "Alright, alright; it was just a thought, okay" He exited the room.

 _Meanwhile_

"If what Blitzwing did to Breakaway is any proof, these new weapons are going cause lots of damage" said Prowl.

"I see" said Optimus "And we really have no idea of Swindle's current location?"

"Thanks to the transwarp capsule, he left without leaving a trace and we don't have the technology to figure it out" replied Prowl "And even if we did find out where he was hiding, he'd be long gone by now and the Decepticons will likely have gotten there first"

"It's a pity" said Ironhide "As much as Swindle's a little hydro-weasel, he at least had good taste in weaponry; that's the one thing I can respect him for. Would've liked to add some of his stuff to my arsenal"

"And now the Decepticons might just have their hands on all of it" said Prowl "Though I doubt Swindle would leave his most valued weaponry unprotected, hence why he chose a drop off as opposed to handing it over immediately"

"So what chance have we got against them now?" asked Jazz.

"Megatron wouldn't have made a deal with Swindle if he didn't have a plan already in motion" said Optimus "From now on we should watch his movements carefully, they could be our only lead to finding out the truth"

"I agree" said Prowl "Staying more vigilant than usual is our best option at the moment. Jazz, Ironhide; let's come up with a plan of attack and inform the others about it"

 _Meanwhile_

Chromia hid behind a pillar and looked out at the clearing in front of her. After she skimmed the area for any sign of danger, she rushed out and signaled Moonracer over to Moonracer to follow her. After running across the clearing, they finally stopped when they reached the dried up water fountain in the middle of it.

"Where to now?" asked Moonracer "Shouldn't we get back under cover before any Decepticons see us?" Chromia opened up a panel from the edge of the fountain and typed a code into it which caused the fountain to split into various segments and open up to reveal a large opening in the ground in front of them. "Woah!" Suddenly, Chromia leapt down into the opening and disappeared. "Hey, wait up!" She leapt down after Chromia and landed in pitch darkness, save for the light of the entrance which closed quickly. "Chromia? Chromia, where are you?" At that moment, a torch lit up next to her and she found Chromia standing before her with it. "Oh, there you are!"

"Apologies for the abruption, but I had little time to inform of the technicalities to you beforehand" said Chromia.

"Okay…" said Moonracer "So what are we doing down here? Aren't we supposed to head for that building in the middle of the city?"

"The entrance was blocked off ages ago so the Decepticons wouldn't enter it" replied Chromia "If we try to go in through the front entrance, we'll only be met with a barrage of traps. This is a safer route that was designed long before the war, you won't believe the amount of information digging I did to make sure I knew everything about the area before entering"

"So what is in the building that's so important that we have to use a "secret entrance" to get it?" asked Moonracer.

"Long ago during the Golden Age of Cybertron, the cities and its people were protected by guardian robots known as Omega Sentinels" replied Chromia "Forged by Solus Prime and perfected by Alchemist Prime, they were designed to protect and serve the people and maintain the peace by any means necessary. When the reign of the original Primes ended, the Elite Guard adopted the Omega Sentinels to help them protect the cities and stop any threats. At the end of the Golden Age when the war started, Megatron realized the threat they possessed against him and made it one of his priorities to destroy all of them. It took two thirds of the war and a great deal of causalities on his side, but he succeeded in the end; the Decepticons destroyed all of the Omega Sentinels…except one, Omega Supreme. He remained with the Autobots for the entirety of the war and was one of the few Autobots who the Decepticons truly feared. He could take out entire battalions within an instant, but even he couldn't prevent Cybertron from being reduced into a graveyard by the Decepticons"

"So what happened to him?" asked Moonracer.

"After the Great Exodus, Omega Supreme was one of the few who remained on Cybertron to keep the Decepticons from taking over completely; eventually, he met a battle that critically injured him and forced him to retreat to this city. He hid himself within the center building and activated defenses while he set himself in hibernation to recover from his injuries. And that's what we're here for, to find him and bring him back. With him, we could easily turn the tide of this conflict in our favor; even Shockwave was unable to replicate the workings of the Sentinels"

"Wow!" said Moonracer "Alright, let's do this!"

"This tunnel should take a while, but it will be worth it if it means gaining an advantage over the Decepticons" said Chromia.

 _Meanwhile_

From atop a high vantage point above the city's clearing, a heavily-built Decepticon with red eyes, a yellow face, and was colored red-violet, blue, and grey looked down on the scenery with a pair of binoculars. He lifted a hologram projector on his wrist up to his face and brought up a hologram of Shockwave.

"Lord Shockwave, the Autobots have entered the secret entrance now" said the Decepticon.

"Keep a close eye on them, Quake; but make sure you maintain the element of surprise like the others" said Shockwave "We cannot afford to lose our deathtrap"

"Understand, Lord Shockwave" said Quake before deactivating the hologram. He stood himself up and turned to his group of Vehicons. "Let's go in!"

 _Meanwhile in Utah_

Barricade and the Vehicons searched around Swindle's ship (which was now lacking both weapons and the Decepticon himself) and investigated the area for anything suspicious. As Barricade explored the empty draws, a Vehicon walked up to him.

"The upper levels are empty" said the Vehicon "There is no sign of Swindle or any of his weapons"

"So he has taken off, and he cleared out" said Barricade "That scum prepared this the moment he made the deal" He sighed in anger.

"What are your orders now?" asked the Vehicon.

"Keep looking" replied Barricade "Megatron wants us to be certain that there's nothing of value left, so we'll leave no place completely unsearched"

"Understood" said the Vehicon before it moved off to keep investigating the ship. As Barricade turned around and moved forward to see if he could uncover something somewhere else, he stepped on something that creaked eerily. As he froze on the spot, he looked down at his foot and saw that he was standing atop a red and gold carpet that Swindle had presumably bought on a far-off world.

"What is it?" asked a nearby Vehicon. Barricade stepped back off the carpet and examined it.

"I don't recall Cybertronian ships being decorated like this" said Barricade "Even Swindle wouldn't have this sort of style…unless he had another purpose for it" He grabbed ahold of the carpet and pulled it off, revealing a trapdoor underneath. "That's interesting"

"Do you think this is where he keeps his most powerful weapons?" asked a Vehicon.

"That remains to be seen" replied Barricade "And even if it is, he surely would have cleared it out first; but we came here to investigate, and we shall"

 _Meanwhile_

Megatron examined Predacon #1 with great intrigue and stroked the glass tank with great fascination. He then looked over at the panel next to the tank that was currently engaged in the process of activating the Predacon.

"How much longer now?" asked Megatron.

"Not long" replied Flatline as he looked over the E.D.K. TechVolts "As soon as the process is complete, I will graft these weapons onto it. Then, after some initial test runs, it will be ready for proper use against the Autobots. And he'll be only the first of many…many more, an entire army" Megatron tapped his finger against the glass as he thought carefully.

"Test runs?" said Megatron "And what exactly would those include?"

"Target practice, examination of abilities…" replied Flatline "Anything to see exactly what it is capable of"

"And these would all be with inanimate objects?" asked Megatron.

"Of course" replied Flatline "Last time I checked, I didn't have a supply of living subjects at my disposal that I could test it on"

"Really?" said Megatron "What if I told you I could supply you with such subjects?" The response caused Flatline to drop the TechVolts onto the workbench.

"What do you mean?" asked Flatline as he turned around.

"If the Predacon is meant to attack Autobots, we need to test it on living targets first to make sure it is truly effective and how its capabilities can be used against our enemies" said Megatron "I can offer you a supply of Vehicons, they should suffice nicely"

"Are you not concerned about thinning your ranks?" asked Flatline.

"The Vehicons are meant to be expendable troops, the loss of only a few of them will not detriment my ranks" said Megatron "It could hardly cause any more harm than Starscream already caused with all of his failures as Decepticon leader in my place. Besides, Project: Predacon is my primary concern so I will do anything to see it through flawlessly. All I ask for in return is to witness the test run myself"

"I can arrange that" said Flatline. At that moment, the panel next to the Predacon's tank beeped. "The process is complete" He walked over to the panel and typed into it. "Now to finish it"

 _Meanwhile_

Bumblebee and Arcee drove back into the _Ark_ where they found the other Autobots were circled around Teletraan I.

"Bumblebee and Arcee, you've arrived back" said Optimus as the two Autobots in front of him transformed.

"Just as requested" said Arcee.

"So, I believe there's a meeting in order?" said Bumblebee.

"That is correct" said Prowl "And we've waited long enough for it, so let's get it underway. There's no denying it; whatever Megatron is planning, he made his first move last night. That deal with Swindle was to gain weaponry of great magnitude; now that's over, he'll be moving onto the next stage"

"Any idea what that will include?" asked Bulkhead.

"None currently, but he'll be forced to show his hand eventually" replied Prowl "And when he does, we will have to move quickly. The more we disrupt his operations, the more he'll be pushed back and forced to reveal his hand earlier"

"And what exactly are we going to do about it?" asked Hound.

"For the time being, the patrols will be increased" said Prowl "We need to keep an eye out for anything Decepticon related, it's our best option for now and we have to make the most of it as possible; I'm currently organizing the new patrol schedules and I will announce them later. As for me, I'll be keeping a closer eye on my tabs on the Decepticons and report if any leads turn up. Now, any questions?" Wheeljack's hand shot up. "Yes, Wheeljack"

"These new patrol schedules; they won't cut out on downtime, will they?" asked Wheeljack.

"Well, the downtime is the only flexible time available; so yes, the downtimes will be shortened for now" replied Prowl.

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Wheeljack.

"I understand that this might come as an inconvenience for a lot of you, so apologies in advance" said Prowl "With Breakaway injured from the last mission and out of action for a time, the Decepticons have gained aerial superiority as an advantage so we have to make up for it any way possible. But do not worry, things will be back to normal once we're in the clear"

"You don't understand!" exclaimed Wheeljack "The slightest neglection to my lab's statistics could put LIVES at risk!" The room fell into an abrupt silence.

"Okay, we'll discuss that later" said Prowl "Anymore questions? No. Then consider this meeting adjourned; I'll announce the official patrol schedules in due time" As the Autobots dispersed, Optimus walked up over to Bumblebee and Arcee.

"Bumblebee, Arcee; may I have a word with you two?" asked Optimus.

"Yeah, of course" replied Bumblebee.

"So what is it?" asked Arcee.

"It's about the patrols" replied Optimus "For the moment, I'm removing you two from the schedule"

"What?" said Arcee.

"Are…Are you serious?" said Bumblebee "Optimus, you heard Prowl; we all have to help out together. We have to do our parts in this as well"

"I need you two to watch over our Human allies" said Optimus.

"Oh…" said Bumblebee.

"With Megatron back, he will no doubt Melody, Bobby, and Kate as viable targets" said Optimus "While on Earth, the Human race are my primary concern; so until everything is secure, I want to make sure the children are safe while under our protection"

"Of course!" said Bumblebee with a mock salute "Can't ignore an order like that"

"We'll keep a good eye on them, Optimus" said Arcee "Don't you worry"

"Bulkhead, Jazz, and Hound have also volunteered to help you out as well" said Optimus "Whatever Megatron is planning, we need to stop it"

 _Meanwhile_

Moonracer and Chromia reached the end of the dark tunnel which appeared to be nothing more than a dead end.

"Great!" said Moonracer sarcastically "So where do we go from here" Chromia observed the area until finally discovering a latch above them.

"There it is" said Chromia. She reached up and began to unwind the hatch until it finally opened. The two Autobots leapt out of the tunnel and into the room that lay above them.

"Looks like we're in" said Moonracer.

"All we need to do now is find him" said Chromia "I just hope those defenses kept the Decepticons at bay so we don't have deal with any of them" Suddenly, countless Vehicons appeared from the higher levels of the room in sniping positions and aimed their blasters at them.

"Apparently it wasn't enough" said Moonracer.

"That's putting it lightly" said a voice. Chromia and Moonracer turned to see Quake walking towards them.

"Decepticon punk!" said Chromia as she turned her hands into her blasters and Moonracer pulled out her blaster rifle.

"Before you shoot, you might want to hear a few words from the big boss first" said Quake. He activated his hologram projector and brought up a hologram of Shockwave.

"Chromia of the Autobot Elite Guard, I see you made it through my defenses undamaged" said Shockwave.

"Shockwave!" said Chromia as she clenched her fists "You dirty little retrorat!"

"Your insult will not trigger an emotional outburst in me" said Shockwave "I would suggest you instead lay down your arms and surrender, it will be the most logical decision considering your current situation"

"How did you get past the defenses?" asked Chromia "Where's Omega Supreme?!"

"Out of both our reaches" replied Shockwave "It is true that the defenses Omega Supreme left here held heavy firepower, simply trying to enter here seemed futile and a waste of time and effort. However, I was patient; and after many failed attempts, I began to notice flaws and weaknesses that could be exploited. Afterwards, entering the building was simple and I caught Omega Supreme unawares and unprepared. However; before I could overpower him with my forces, he activated an emergency ground bridge and teleported himself across the galaxy. I was unable to track him and have heard no word of him since"

"In that case, what's with the welcoming committee here?" asked Chromia.

"I saw potential in this building's setup and I chose not to let it go to waste" replied Shockwave "I made sure no one outside of my command knew of what happened here and I reset the defenses under my control, turning this place into a deathtrap for any Autobot. You are hardly the first to become entrapped here and I do not intend you to be the last. Now; as I said earlier, surrender is the most logical option and I suggest you take it"

"Do you really think I would do that?" said Chromia "I know all too well what you do to your prisoners; I will not subject myself or my sister to such treatments from you! Get fragged, you one-eyed freak!"

"I would have preferred if things went efficiently this time, but you chose to resist like the others before you; and as such, you shall share their fate. Quake, capture these two Autobots and bring them to me; if that proves impossible, kill them both"

"Understood" said Quake. He turned his hologram projector off and turned his hand into a large cannon. "Take these Autobots down!" He and the Vehicons began shooting at Chromia and Moonracer who desperately evaded the shots.

"This is not good, this is not good!" fretted Moonracer as she pulled out her blaster rifle "Should we…make back with the tunnel"

"No" said Chromia as she turned her hands into her blasters "If they've used this trap before and no one has escaped it, no doubt they've got the fountain entrance covered to prevent anyone from escaping that way"

"Then what should we do?" asked Moonracer. Chromia loaded her blasters and began shooting at the Vehicons that were now surrounding them.

"We hold our own!" said Chromia "For however long we can"

"Right!" said Moonracer as she began shooting at the Vehicons as well. As they kept shooting at what seemed like impossible odds, a pang of guilt befell Chromia as she felt the full magnitude of the situation's consequences.

"Moonracer…" said Chromia.

"Yeah?" asked Moonracer.

"I'm sorry…for everyone" said Chromia "I've lead you into this and we may never get out" Moonracer smiled in response.

"Don't worry; we'll get out just fine" said Moonracer "We're not done yet"

 _Meanwhile_

Megatron, Flatline, Soundwave, Slipstream, and Lugnut stood atop a balcony overlooking a small and plain arena with a dirt floor.

"Soundwave, inform the troops that they can enter in now" said Megatron.

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave "Walk forward into the light"

"Affirmative" replied a Vehicon out of his comlink. Down in the arena, a group of five Vehicons stepped out of an entrance and looked at the area around them.

"Can they see us?" asked Slipstream.

"No, the glass is darkened on the outside and prevents anyone out there seeing what lies within" replied Flatline as he lightly knocked on the glass window surrounding the balcony.

"Is this really necessary?" said Slipstream "We're fighting a war against the Autobots and our best advantage over them is that we have them outnumbered, but that advantage will go away if you use our troops for tests like this?"

"You dear question Lord Megatron's plans?!" snarled Lugnut.

"Easy, Lugnut" said Megatron "Slipstream has good reason to be wary about this test run; considering the casualties Vehicon troops take each battle, it's better if we have as many of them as we can. But rest assured; if all goes according to plan, this Predacon army will be worth triple our current Vehicon army"

"And if it doesn't?" asked Slipstream.

"If the project fails, I'll make sure not to waste any more time and energy on it" said Megatron "Flatline, send the Predacon in"

"Yes, my lord" said Flatline. As he pressed a panel on his wrist, the door to another entrance in the arena opened up.

"What is that!?" exclaimed a Vehicon.

"Whatever it is, be prepared for whatever may come through" said the first Vehicon "Blasters at the ready" The Vehicons turned their hands into their blasters and aimed them at the door in front of them.

"Where is it?" asked Slipstream.

"Patience" replied Flatline. Although nothing was visible within the darkness within the entrance, faint hissing and clicking could be heard emanating from it.

"What's in there?" asked the second Vehicon.

"I don't know, but be ready for it" replied another Vehicon "Brace yourselves!" The hissing and clicking got closer until Predacon #1 finally emerged from the entrance.

"By the AllSpark!" exclaimed another Vehicon. The robotic scorpion's purple and green skin gleamed beneath the arena's lights and its four red optics examined its surroundings in an almost curious manner.

"What is that thing!?" exclaimed the third Vehicon.

"I don't know, but it looks dangerous" said the first Vehicon.

"Behold…Predacon #1!" said Flatline.

"I was expecting something like Stinger or Pincer or maybe even Quickstrike" said Slipstream.

"In my line of business, it's best not to give your subjects names" said Flatline "It only makes you attached to them so it's more reasonable to use numbers instead, it helps you keep track better too"

"Is the Predacon assigned to kill them?" asked Megatron.

"Yes" replied Flatline.

"Good, it makes this next part easier" said Megatron "Soundwave, order the Vehicons to kill the Predacon"

"What!?" exclaimed Flatline.

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave.

"What part of the test run involves destroying it!?" snapped Flatline "That's my creation down there, it took me ages to perfect; you can't just terminate an experiment without a proper reason for it!"

"In order to get a clear view of the Predacon is capable of and what it's limits are, it would be best to make this test as hard for it as possible" said Megatron "The whole reason for using live targets is to make it difficult and realistic after all; why not make it a battle scenario to push it further?"

"Alright; but if it doesn't survive, we'll have to start all over again with a different subject" said Flatline "Such an inadequacy would be troublesome for both of us"

"I will take that into account" said Megatron "But if our work on it was a success, you have nothing to worry about"

"You are ordered to destroy the creature in front of you" said Soundwave into his comlink.

"Understood" said the first Vehicon into its comlink "Shoot to kill!" As the Vehicons began shooting at Predacon #1, the large scorpion quickly dug into the dirt ground of the arena and burrowed its way until it reached the five Vehicons and burst out through the middle of them, crushing one of the Vehicons to death with its claws in the process. Slipstream and Lugnut appeared to be shocked by this display of Predacon's power. If Soundwave was surprised, he didn't show it under his emotionless demeanor. Megatron however watched the scene play out with great intrigue and fascination.

"As you can see; Predacon #1's claws not only act as powerful weapons but also allow it to tunnel underneath earthen surfaces, enabling it to hide in its terrain or attack its enemies unexpectedly" said Flatline "Both are major benefits in the battlefield"

"I'm already impressed" said Megatron "Let's see what else it does" As the Vehicons resumed shooting; Predacon #1 burrowed into the ground again, snuck up behind one of the Vehicons, and stabbed it with its stinger tail as it emerged from the ground again.

"The stinger pretty much speaks for itself" said Flatline "A strike through the heart will cause instant death to the victim"

"And what if it strikes somewhere else?" asked Slipstream.

"Then the venom will merely enter their veins and course through it until the victim finally succumbs to it" replied Flatline "The death will be longer and more painful, but it hardly makes a difference; either way, the victim dies" The three remaining Vehicons desperately tried to retreat to the entrance they had arrived from while still shooting at Predacon #1.

"Close the door" said Megatron "The test run can't have any survivors"

"Right" said Flatline with a sadistic grin. He pressed the panel on his wrist again and closed the Vehicons' entrance shut.

"No!" exclaimed the Vehicons as they reached the closed door too late and banged their fists against it helplessly "No! No! No!" Predacon #1 charged up its TechVolts and finished off the remaining Vehicons with its electrical beams.

"And finally, there is your contribution—the E.D.K. TechVolt" said Flatline "Pretty much self-explanatory; its electrical diffraction beam can be used to carve the enemy to pieces or even recharge electrical equipment. And its rarity makes it a weapon hard to match"

"And so does the rarity of the Predacon" said Megatron "The Autobots won't be expecting anything like it"

"Precisely" said Flatline "And better yet, we've only scratched the surface of what it is capable of. There's so much more we can find out by using it against the Autobots"

"And they'll be unprepared for what happens next, especially once the other beasts are ready" said Megatron.

"Indeed" said Flatline.

 _Meanwhile_

Chromia and Moonracer fought back against the Vehicons who surrounded and overran them.

"There's too many of them!" said Moonracer "Even can't shoot this many, and I'm the best sharp—"

"Focus on fighting, don't get distracted!" snapped Chromia.

"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Moonracer.

"It seems like for every one we shoot down, two more take their place" said Chromia "Shockwave's obviously been precise, he made sure this place was armed to the teeth so no one could get out"

"You're right about that!" said Quake as he aimed his cannon at them and blasted a powerful energy blast at them.

"Moonracer, look out!" exclaimed Chromia. As Moonracer froze at the sight of the incoming beam, Chromia leapt over and pulled her back to safety but singed her leg in the process. "AHHHH!"

"Chromia!" exclaimed Moonracer.

"I'm fine!" spouted Chromia "Just…injured…"

"Injured is not fine" said Moonracer "I have to get you to safety"

"There is no safety here!" said Chromia. Suddenly, a Vehicon charged at them only for Moonracer to shoot it down. It was soon followed by various other Vehicons who Moonracer began shooting down as well

"Get away!" said Moonracer "Get away, all of you!" Suddenly, two Vehicon jets flew down from the upper levels and began shooting at them; fortunately however, Chromia shot both of them down. As the two jets crashed into some nearby Vehicons, Chromia held her arm with pain.

"Damn it!" snapped Chromia "That blast have skimmed all of my side, not just my leg…"

"Try not to strain yourself" said Moonracer "We'll be out of here in no time, so try to save your—" Suddenly, Chromia grabbed Moonracer by the shoulder and pulled her in close to her.

"No!" said Chromia quietly "It's not going to work out like that…Moonracer…I know this must be sudden and rushed…but you have to find a way out of here now!"

"What!" exclaimed Moonracer quietly "But what about you?"

"I'll hold them off" said Chromia quietly "Let's just say I can cause a distraction they can't ignore…" She coughed vigorously. "…while I'm distracting them, run away…some of them may follow you, but you can handle them easily…"

"I won't leave you!" said Moonracer quietly "We're getting out of this together"

"We don't argue about this!" snapped Chromia quietly "I got you into this mess, the least I can do is get you out of it"

"We're sisters" said Moonracer quietly "I can't just abandon—" Suddenly, Quake grabbed Moonracer by the leg and threw her into a nearby pillar.

"Make sure she's unconscious" said Quake "If not, stun her"

"Yes, captain" replied a nearby Vehicon who rushed over to Moonracer.

"You…You piece of slag!" snarled Chromia as she slowly and painfully stood herself up.

"Try not to damage yourself too much" said Quake "Shockwave prefers them I alive and I would prefer not to disappoint him"

"He'll just have to get used to being disappointed then" said Chromia. She rushed at Quake and swiped him in the head with her good leg before shooting at him with her blasters. However, this strained herself and she collapsed shortly afterwards.

"If you keep this up, you'll end up dying" said Quake as he adjusted his cannon to stun "You should consider what I'm about to do as something that will save you a lot of trouble"

"I…I won't…I won't back down from anyone, not even Shockwave" said Chromia as she attempted to pull herself back up "And if he gets his hand on my sister, I'll stab him in the eye!"

"You keep saying that…" said Quake as he pointed his cannon towards her and charged it up "All the way back to Kaon" He shot a stun blast at her and she fell unconscious. "Get them loaded on the dropship, we head back as soon as possible"

"Yes, captain" said the remaining Vehicons.

 **Starlight41** : I'm glad you enjoyed it. Swindle's a fan favorite character so I felt he was a must include for my series

 **kira444** : Thanks! It's good to be back, but it also feels a little rocky at the moment so I hope I'm delivering well.

 **Guest** : Interesting idea, but this isn't a crossover so I feel Daleks or Cybermen would feel a little out of place in the world of Transformers.


	3. The Beast with a Barb Tail part 1

**Author's note** : Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay; I give myself an eight-day limit when writing chapters so I can release them regularly with a good amount of time to work on them, but this one took longer than expected and I had to spend extra time on it to make sure it turned out right. The end of the year has been a bit of strain on me with Christmas and the upcoming 2019, but I'm glad I was able to release one last chapter before New Year's Eve. Enjoy:

 _Suburbs of Carson City_

Melody lay asleep on her mattress in the guest bedroom of Bobby's house when the digital alarm clock went off abruptly and woke her up. She sat herself up, stretch her arms out, and yawned. She then looked down at her alarm clock which read 8:00.

"Good morning" said Melody to herself.

 _A few minutes later_

Melody next to Bobby at his house's breakfast table as his mother stood over them and poured out orange juice for her.

"Um…Mrs. Parker; I appreciate the generosity, but I feel this is a little…unnecessary" said Melody.

"Nonsence" said Felicity (Bobby's mother) "You're our guest, it would be disrespectful not to"

"Don't mind Mom" said Bobby "She has this "maternal hospitality" instinct that just kicks in around guests"

"And you do good to respect it" said James (Bobby's father) as he lowered his newspaper "You of all people should be gracious to our guest, she is your friend after all"

"Painting me as the bad guy, huh?" said Bobby.

"They're just pushing you into being a gentleman" said Melody.

"And now you're joining in on them" said Bobby.

"As everyone does, Bobby!" said a voice from across the table. Bobby turned over towards his nine-year-old sister Olivia who held a menacing glare at him and possessed a villainous smirk. Bobby sighed in response.

"Okay, what are you hiding this time, Liv?" asked Bobby.

"Oh, don't you know?" replied Olivia "It's Halloween again"

"Hallo…oh, are you kidding me!" said Bobby. Olivia laughed evilly.

"That's right!" said Olivia "And like every year beforehand, you're taking me out trick-or-treating!"

"Trick-or-treating?" said Bobby "You're nine, aren't you a little too old for that?"

"We're going trick-or-treating tonight and you can't do anything about it!" said Olivia "I've already got my costume ready and everything"

"You're some kind of evil mastermind, aren't you?" said Bobby "Why me? Can't Mom or Dad take you this time?"

"Bobby, we're busy tonight so could you **please** just spend some time with your sister?" said Felicity in a surprisingly blunt tone. Bobby sighed.

"Fine!" said Bobby "Against my will, I'll take you out trick-or-treating again!"

"Excellent choice!" said Olivia. Melody placed her elbow on Bobby's shoulder.

"Eh, at least this time you've got someone to share the burden with" said Melody "Besides; it's only Halloween, what's the worst that could happen?"

 _Meanwhile in an unknown location_

As a Vehicon wheezed heavily and desperately tried to crawl away before it was impaled in the back by Predacon #1's stinger before being torn to pieces by its claws and thrown to the side. Above them, Megatron watched from the balcony with Flatline, Soundwave, and Slipstream by his side.

"From what I've observed, it appears to be developing creativity" said Flatline.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Slipstream.

"It has various means of killing its prey and now it has started to blend them together, creating a deadly combo" said Flatline "Such an instinct often occurs within beasts, but it rarely develops so quickly. This is incredible; think of all the things we can learn from the Predacons, all the things fossils and remains would otherwise deny us but genetic engineering enables us to discover flawlessly"

"Are you sure this thing's even capable of developing the same instincts the original Predacons had?" said Slipstream "These creatures…they died out in the Great Cataclysm long before modern Cybertronians; does it even have an instinct?"

"It does" replied Flatline "The same instinct every beast possesses…to destroy everything it touches! And now we can harness that animal impulse, that unbridled strength and ferocity and use it for our own means"

"It really is impressive" said Megatron "Shockwave made a good decision when he decided to go ahead with this program" A look of subtle disdain befell on Flatline's face at the mention of Shockwave's name as opposed to his own.

"Indeed, he was" snorted Flatline "One of Cybertron's greatest by far" At that moment, he moved over to a nearby panel on the balcony and pressed a button which caused the window in front of them to open up. He then stepped out onto its ledge and leapt down to the ground below, landing right in front of the Predacon.

"What is he doing?!" exclaimed Slipstream as Megatron began walking over to Predacon #1 "Has he gone crazy?"

"No" said Flatline. To Slipstream's shock, Megatron extended his hand out and began patting Predacon #1 on its head.

"H-How…" said Slipstream "That thing, it…"

"I imprinted Predacon #1 on a select few individuals" said Flatline.

"How is that even possible?" asked Slipstream.

"Through science" replied Flatline "Before I finalized it, I programmed its mind to act loyal and trusting towards individuals like Megatron. It felt necessary to avoid anything out of hand from happening. Even the most unhinged beast needs to be kept on a leash"

"All loyalty has limits, so what's the Predacon's limit" asked Slipstream.

"As long as you do not show aggression or intention to harm towards it and it is programmed to stay devoted to you, it will remain devoted" replied Flatline "This is a very important part because it's the thin line between friend and food; without it, we're no different from everything else that moves" Slipstream looked down at the Predacon below with utter shock and intrigue.

"You really are an incredible beast" said Megatron "Even Grimlock and his team don't compare to the raw power you possess. Optimus and the other Autobots will be at your mercy in no time. It's impressive how one creature could learn so quickly…but enough of these simulated tests, we need to see this power in a real environment with real Autobots to target"

"Do you mean…it's time for it to see the sunlight?" asked Flatline.

"Yes" replied Megatron "The time has come to RELEASE THE PREDACON!"

 **The Beast with a Barb Tail part 1**

 _The Ark_

Ratchet operated on Teletraan I and observed the globe for any signs of Decepticon activity using the worldwide internet.

"Any signs?" asked Optimus as he walked up next to Ratchet.

"None so far" replied Ratchet "There's been nothing since the weapons drop-off"

"Which could imply only one thing—Megatron is evaluating the next move of his master plan before he executes it" said Prowl as he walked up to them.

"We don't know that for certain, but we should keep a watchful eye nonetheless" said Optimus "When Megatron shows his hand again, we have to catch it quickly"

"We'd better" said Prowl "We need to find out about Megatron's plan before he has the chance to complete it. For all we know, his next move might just be the final one"

 _Meanwhile on the Nemesis_

Barricade, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Dead End, Hailstorm, the Constructicons, and various Vehicons stood within the Decepticons' gathering area as a ground bridge portal opened up in front of them with Megatron, Soundwave, Slipstream, Lugnut, and Flatline stepped through.

"So, Lord Megatron finally returns after six long days" said Scrapper "I wonder what he has to report"

"Fellow Decepticons, no doubt you are curious about many things" announced Megatron "My absence, the weapons deal with Swindle…there are many questions you must have, questions that I shall provide answers for. Ever since Commander Blackout's betrayal and subsequent demise, I have been working on a new plan to rise above Optimus Prime and the Autobots once and for all" Chatter erupted amongst the Decepticon crowd at the utter of his words. "I understand that the very notion of a new plan so soon after my mysterious plan fell apart would be the cause of great hesitation amongst all of you. But rest assured, I have taken that into consideration with my new plan"

"So what is the new plan?" asked Barricade.

"Our greatest strength against the Autobots is that we outnumber them a hundred to one" replied Megatron "In fact; if I knew the location of their hideout, I would send our entire army there and obliterate them once and for all. But of course, the Great Optimus Prime makes up for his lack in numbers by being able to elude me to his whereabouts. Yes, it is sole factor that keeps me from finishing off him and his Autobots; if you cannot overwhelm your enemy with numbers, then turn to more strategic methods to outsmart them at every turn. This has always been a strong suit for Optimus and it is one of the few reasons why he and his Autobots persisted long after the war's end"

"Where are you going at exactly?" asked Thundercracker.

"After millennia of nonstop conflicts, Optimus and the Autobots have become accustomed to fighting us" replied Megatron "Fighting Vehicons all this time has caused them to get used to our tactics; even when facing an entire army, they need only time to think around it. The only time they've ever truly been outmatched and overwhelmed knowing that there was little hope of success is when we introduce something new to the playing field, but they still get used to it over time. So in order to defeat them, we need something that is both new and unpredictable to send them down and keep them overwhelmed"

"What is it exactly?" asked Skywarp.

"Fellow Decepticons, it is my honour to present to you the most dangerous creature to have walked Cybertron's surface since the Great Cataclysm" replied Megatron. As he stepped aside from the ground bridge portal behind him, Predacon #1 crawled out and hissed viciously. The Decepticons within the area gasped in shock and held an expression of both repulse and fear as they looked down at the creature standing before them. "Do not be alarmed; it will not harm you, unless ordered to that is. Of course; with its animal impulse, it might not tell the difference between friend and foe within the heat of battle" Various chattering started amongst the crowds.

"What is that?" said a Vehicon.

"It's like some kind of bug" said another Vehicon.

"What does Lord Megatron want with it?" said another Vehicon.

"Where did it come from?" said another Vehicon.

"How did Megatron find it?" said another Vehicon. Predacon #1 examined the area with its optics and seemed to be confused by the chatting that surrounded it and engulfed the area.

"What you see before you is a miracle of both evolution and modern science" announced Megatron "It is a Predacon!"

"Predacon!" exclaimed a Vehicon.

"How could that be?!" exclaimed another Vehicon.

"But Lord Megatron, how could that possibly be a Predacon?" asked Thundercracker "The Predacons went extinct in the Great Cataclysm of Cybertron long before the original Primes founded Cybertronian culture and society"

"It is true that the Predacons went extinct long before the War of Cybertron even started, but it did not prevent us from obtaining them" replied Megatron "It all started long ago back on Cybertron just before the Great Exodus; towards the end of the war, my chief scientist Shockwave approached me with a proposal for a new project. He revealed that he had been studying Predacon remains and believed that, with time and proper testing, could recreate them and use them as weapons against the Autobots"

"How is that even possible?" asked Barricade.

"Through the use of fossilized remains" replied Flatline "The Predacons may be long gone, but their remnants remain. By extracting the CNA from their fossilized bones, you can recreate the beasts through the use of cloning"

"When I first heard it, I wasn't sure what to make of it" said Megatron "On one hand; it sounded absurd, even with Shockwave's past accomplishments to back him up. On the other hand however, it was an intriguing enough concept to at least explore. So I allowed him to start the project, but I specifically requested to not let it interfere with any current projects. Because of this, the project was far from finished when we initially left Cybertron. I heard no word on the status of the project; if Shockwave continued it, it was under wraps without updating me. Recently however, I made a discovery; unbeknownst to anyone, Flatline here stole several of Shockwave's fossils and used them to clone an army of Predacons"

"The clone that stands before you now is the first of many to be born" said Flatline "He is our test subject, so to speak; and so far, all the test we've run on it have been positive. The beast already possesses natural weapons and capabilities; its claws can crush almost anything with a force unlike any modern creature currently discovered. Its tail possesses a stinger that can both impale its victim or poison it with its venom. Its optics can see in the dark and it is capable of burrowing underground to stalk and surprise its prey. And with our technology, we were able to graft weapons onto it; the E.D.K. TechVolts will enable it to destroy its victims from afar. If what we've accomplished with this specimen is any evidence, think of what we can accomplish with an entire army"

"Of course, everything we've learnt from this Predacon was within simulations" said Megatron "We have yet to see how it actually performs out on the field, but we will soon enough. Tonight, we will unleash the Predacon on the Autobots' Human allies to draw them out and destroy them!"

 _Later_

Melody walked up the staircase to the upper floor of Bobby's house where she found Bobby himself leaning against the wall outside Olivia's room.

"So where's the little gorgon?" asked Melody.

"In her room, getting her costume on" replied Bobby "And as for me, I'm just enjoying the calm before the storm" Melody snickered lightly.

"So tell me, how bad is this particular level of hell?" asked Melody.

"You'll definitely want ice water afterwards" replied Bobby. Melody smiled before she heaved out a sigh. "What is it?"

"Halloween..." said Melody as she walked over to the railings that overlooked the lower floor of the house "I remember it all too well. Mom and Dad always took me out trick-or-treating, we seemed like the perfect family back then. It's hard to believe it's been about three years since they divorced…"

"Do you think he knows about your Mom's disappearance?" asked Bobby.

"If he does, I doubt he even cares!" snapped Melody in response "He never spoke to me afterwards. You know; even if he wasn't on good terms with his wife, he could have at least spent some time with his daughter. If he had any reasons, he certainly didn't bother to explain them to us"

"If he does come back for me, I'm not sure if…if I can forgive him" said Melody.

"It'll be alright" said Bobby "Like you said, we have the Autobots here for us"

"Yeah; they're always there for us, no matter what" said Melody "Oh, that reminds me!" She quickly pulled out her phone and began typing into it.

"What are you doing?" asked Bobby.

"I'm letting Bumblebee and Arcee know that we're going out so they can keep an eye on us" replied Melody.

"Do you think they can keep a low profile?" asked Bobby "I mean; Olivia may be crazy, but she's sure to notice a yellow and black car following us with a motorcycle companion"

"Believe it or not, they can keep a low profile" replied Melody as she put her phone to her ear as it started ringing "Just…not in the same way Humans can; I mean, they are scouts after all"

"Hello?" said Bumblebee's voice out of Melody's phone.

"It's Melody" said Melody "Just letting you know that Bobby and I will be heading out soon"

"Where are you going?" asked Bumblebee.

"Not far, just up the street around Bobby's house" replied Melody "But I felt it was worth mentioning"

"Got it" said Bumblebee "We'll be there soon"

"See you then" said Melody.

"Who were you talking to?" asked a voice. Melody and Bobby turned around to see Olivia standing before them dressed in black robes with red and black makeup and a double-bladed lightsabre toy with red light up blades.

"I was expecting a princess…or maybe a queen" said Melody.

"It was either this or the Xenomorph one and this one was easier to explain" said Bobby.

"So who were you talking to?" asked Olivia.

"Oh…no one, just a friend" replied Melody.

"Will your friend be joining us tonight?" asked Olivia.

"Why do you ask that?" asked Melody.

"You said you'd see them" replied Olivia.

"Well…uh…" said Melody as she tried to think of an explanation to use.

"Shouldn't you say goodbye to Mom and Dad?" said Bobby.

"Okay, fine!" said Olivia as she turned towards the staircase "But we're definitely going to talk about your mystery friend later" She rushed down the staircase towards the living room.

"She is such…such a pain!" snapped Melody.

"She may be a brat, but hopefully one day she'll grow out of it" said Bobby "In the meantime, we'd better figure out what to say to her" As Melody rubbed her chin in thought, she quickly snapped her fingers eagerly. "I got it!" She quickly rushed off out of sight. "Excuse while I go make another phone call"

 _Meanwhile_

A ground bridge portal opened up atop a hill a distance away from the suburbs of Carson City. Dead End and Hailstorm stepped out of the portal while carrying a large and long crate along with them.

"There it is" said Hailstorm as he looked over towards the suburbs in front of them "Now let's dump this thing and get out of here"

"As much as I would prefer that course of action, we both know Lord Megatron won't take that it easy" said Dead End "He told us to specifically unleash the Predacon upon the Autobots Human allies to draw them out"

"So what?" said Hailstorm "Predacon goes berserk upon Humans and the Autobots come in to respond to it. Results the same!"

"It makes no sense, but we have to follow through" said Dead End.

"And why's that?" asked Hailstorm.

"Because I can hear the both of you" said Megatron's voice.

"Lord Megatron!" exclaimed Hailstorm "I…uh…apologies for—"

"Leave it, Hailstorm" said Megatron's voice.

 _Meanwhile_

Aboard the _Nemesis_ , Megatron, Soundwave, and Flatline stood in front of a large monitor that showed a visual of Dead End and Hailstorm from a birds' eye of view of their location. Soundwave's tentacles were connected into the console of the monitor.

"I understand that you may question my orders, but I expect you follow through nonetheless" said Megatron "So quit wasting time and get on with it"

"I was merely wondering why we have to seek out specific Humans when we can just use any" said Hailstorm.

"Because these "specific" Humans are the ones under the Autobots protection" said Megatron "No doubt those soft-sparked fools have developed an emotional attachment to them and the more naïve of them would become irrational and easier to kill. This method kills two birds with one stone; the Predacon will take out the younger Autobots while the more experienced Autobots will prove a challenge for it to test against"

"I suppose that plan makes a bit of sense" said Hailstorm.

"Nothing ever makes sense" said Dead End "Because everything is pointless"

 _Meanwhile_

"Still though, how were you able to listen in on us without our comlinks?" asked Hailstorm.

"Look up" replied Megatron. Dead End and Hailstorm looked up to see Laserbeak flying over them in circles while squawking at them in a haunting fashion that felt almost like a warning.

"That bird!" snapped Hailstorm.

"I wanted to make sure I had an eye on both Predacon #1's progress and your execution of my plan" said Megatron "So remember; make no mistake because I have my eyes on you" Hailstorm groaned.

"Let's just get this filthy beast to its drop-off point and be done with it!" snapped Hailstorm as he slammed his fist atop the crate. In response, Predacon #1 began hissing and started rocking the crate in an aggressive manner.

"Careful, Hailstorm" said Megatron's voice "We don't want to direct our weapon's rage towards us, now do we?"

"It's just a mindless beast, it's not like it understands any of this" said Hailstorm.

 _Meanwhile_

"I'm certain it understands that what you just did annoyed it" said Megatron "Don't do that again. Now, get back to work!" Dead End and Hailstorm began moving off with the crate. "Is the tracking device online?" Flatline pulled out a pad device and looked at it.

"It is, and it's responding" replied Flatline.

"Good, now give it to Soundwave" said Megatron. Flatline passed the tracking pad over to Soundwave. "Keep a close eye on that; once Predacon #1 sets off, we'll need Laserbeak to keep a close eye on it and its surroundings. Now, set up the body-cam"

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave. The monitor in front of them split into two visuals; on one side was Laserbeak's view of Dead End and Hailstorm, on the other side was Predacon #1's visual from within the darkness of the crate. "Predacon #1 body-cam: Online"

"With the body-cam, we can view the scenario from Predacon #1's perspective" said Megatron.

"And with both visuals, we'll be able to observe the hunt with absolute prowess" said Flatline.

"Exactly" said Megatron.

 _Meanwhile_

Melody and Bobby walked down the street with Olivia following them by their side. They had already visited three houses so her trick-or-treat bag already held a good amount of candy, but she was still determined to fill it up completely before the night was over. Melody felt a sense of unease since she still had not spotted Bumblebee or Arcee in the area or heard back from them. It was still daylight and they were in a populated area, so it was unlikely that the Decepticons would attempt anything; but as the sun went down, she felt herself become more tense as an anxious feeling of dread filled up inside of her.

"So where's your friend?" asked Olivia. Melody snapped out of her thoughts.

"Huh!?" exclaimed Melody.

"Your friend" said Olivia "The one you were on the phone with"

"Oh, she'll be here very soon" said Melody "I can guarantee you that"

"Hey guys!" said a voice. The group turned around to see Kate standing before them. She was dressed in black robes with red lining and had a badge with a lion on it on her chest. She held a wand in her hands and had a fake lightning bolt scar on her forehead. "Sorry I'm late, but it took some time to rustle up an outfit at this time"

"You did well" said Melody.

"This is your friend?" said Olivia.

"Olivia, you remember Kate, don't you?" said Bobby.

"Oh yeah!" said Olivia "You're the one who's always on your computer"

"That's right" said Kate with both thumbs up "Computer girl, that's me. Melody called me up and told me about the whole situation and I decided to share the burden with them. Shall we get going?"

"Yeah, we've still got several more houses to go" replied Olivia "Come on guys!" As they moved off down the street, Kate walked up to Melody and Bobby and slipped her arms through theirs.

"Let's go, Golden Trio" smirked Kate.

 _Meanwhile_

Dead End watched the Humans as they walked down the street and examined their position through his visor that matched up their facial descriptions to that of the "three Human allies" of the Autobots.

"Found them" said Dead End "And they've got some smaller ones attached to them…disgusting…"

"Finally!" said Hailstorm "We can stop dragging this damn bug around and just let it out!" Predacon #1 hissed in response and began rocking the crate again.

"Sounds like it doesn't like your description of it" said Dead End as he retracted his visor.

"It's just a dumb animal, it doesn't know anything" said Hailstorm.

"It knows abuse, which is enough to make it lose its allegiance to us" said Megatron's voice "Now release it immediately"

"Alright, alright!" snapped Hailstorm. He and Dead End move back over to the crate and slowly unlocked it. The moment they undid the latch, Predacon #1 burst out and buried itself into the ground in front of them.

"It's out" said Dead End.

"Excellent work" said Megatron's voice.

 _Meanwhile_

"Soundwave, keep Laserbeak on Predacon #1's position at all times" said Megatron "We need a good view of its progress"

"As you command, Lord Megatron" said Soundwave. Megatron turned back to monitor and observed the visual of Predacon #1's view of it burrowing through the ground.

"Any moment now, it will submerge above the ground and attack its targets" said Flatline. Megatron smiled evilly.

"Let the hunt begin!" said Megatron maliciously.

 _Meanwhile_

"Thank you for the candy!" said Olivia as she received another helping of candy from the house they were visiting. When the door finally closed, they turned back to the street and began walking back to it.

"And now the torment continues" said Bobby.

"Eh, this ain't that bad" said Kate as she wrapped her arms around Melody and Bobby's shoulders "At least we're enduring the torture together, like old times"

"Yeah, just like old times" said Melody.

"Except now we've got my little sister involved" said Bobby.

"You're lucky to have her" said Kate "I've got two brothers at home and they can be a real handful"

"Believe me, she can be more than two handfuls" said Bobby.

"And I'm the only only child here" said Melody. At that moment, Olivia stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it?" asked Kate.

"That sun is getting very low" said Olivia. Melody, Bobby, and Kate looked over at the sunset in front of them that now appeared to touching the horizon.

"What of it?" asked Melody.

"It means nightfall's coming and we'd better get back home before it does" said Olivia. She turned around and began speed-walking back towards her house's direction.

"And how's that supposed to be a problem?" asked Bobby "Last Halloween, you were out until almost midnight. It was a real pain for everyone involved"

"Yeah, that's because things were as dangerous then as they are now" said Olivia "If we stay out too late, the aliens will come and abduct us"

"Aliens!" exclaimed Melody, Bobby, and Kate simultaneously.

"Haven't you heard?" said Olivia "There are alien monsters living on Earth and they're abducting people"

"Seriously?" said Bobby "Come on; that's just a big hoax, right? If there were any aliens, wouldn't the government let us know about it?"

"Haven't you seen the movies?" replied Olivia "The government's trying to cover it all up so people don't go crazy"

"We're really going to have a long talk about those movies when we get back home tonight" said Bobby.

"But it's all true though!" said Olivia.

"Olivia, just because the internet says something doesn't mean it's automatically true" said Melody "I mean, where's the concrete evidence?"

"Haven't you heard?" said Olivia "It's everywhere! Earlier this year, there was this big battle in the city!" Melody, Bobby, and Kate tried to hide their shocked expressions. "Yeah, the aliens were like fighting each other and shooting at people and causing all this destruction"

"Ah…" said Melody.

"And of course, the government tried to cover it up afterwards; but this time everyone saw it" said Olivia "There's no way it could have been a hoax"

"Well, you'll be surprised what modern technology can do nowadays" said Kate "But in all seriousness, there's still some thing's that don't add up. Say that there are aliens hiding on this planet, where are they right now? Where are they supposed to hide?"

"That's the thing, they're all around us" replied Olivia "They can turn into vehicles and are hiding in public"

"You seem to know a lot about these "aliens"" said Melody "Did…Did you really learn all of this off the internet?"

"Not all of it" replied Olivia "I mean, everyone's talking about them already so—" Suddenly, there was a loud crack as something burst out of the middle of the road next to them and filled the entire street around them with dust and rubble.

"What was that!?" exclaimed Kate.

"Something big" said Bobby. He quickly grabbed a hold of Olivia's wrist. "C'mon, let's get out of here before it notices us" As they turned to leave, Predacon #1 leapt out of the dust cloud, landed in front of them, and hissed viciously. Whatever excitement and confidence lay on Olivia's face quickly shattered when she came face-to-face with the giant scorpion that lay in front of them. All that was left now on her face was fear.

"Oh no!" said Melody.

"That's…That's…" said Olivia.

"A giant scorpion, I know" said Bobby. Predacon #1 stared down at them and started salivating while clicking its grotesque mandibles ravenously as if it was about to consume its next meal and was looking forward to it. It turned its sights towards Olivia (who quickly hid behind Bobby) and roared viciously at them.

"I…really wanna' go home now!" yelled Olivia. Bobby felt too worried about her safety at the moment to gloat at her previous confidence like he usually would. A new sense dread began to wash over him that made him feel helpless and unsure. He, Melody, and Kate had been in situations like this before when they found themselves stuck in battles between the Autobots and Decepticons, but it always seemed to be just the three of them in danger not anyone else. But now things seemed to be different, Olivia was now pulled into this; and as much as she seemed to know about the Transformers already from the rumours that had come out, she was too young to face such dangers herself. And what lay before them did not appear to be a Decepticon with a particular motive in mind, rather an uncontrollable beast who's only goal was to destroy everything in its path. Yet despite all of this, he felt a fire light up inside him.

"Olivia, we'll get you out of here!" said Bobby. Olivia looked up Bobby timidly.

"P-Please, big brother!" begged Olivia "I…I just wanna' go home to Mom and Dad!"

"It's going to be alright, I promise" said Bobby.

 _Meanwhile_

Megatron watched Predacon #1's visual of the Humans with disdain and confusion.

"What is it doing?" said Megatron "Is it just going to leave them there?"

"I thought you wanted the Humans alive so we can draw out the Autobots" said Slipstream who was standing at a nearby panel.

"I do; but at this rate, they'll probably make it out themselves before the Autobots even arrive" said Megatron "Why is just standing there?" Flatline scratched his chin in thought.

"Hmm…it is very interesting" said Flatline "Ah, of course; now it makes sense"

"What is it?" asked Megatron.

"It's confused" replied Flatline "It's never encountered Humans before so it's not entirely sure of what to make of them. It is a learning creature after all so the world is new to it"

"I trust this "exploration" won't get in the way of our test run?" said Megatron.

"Give it time" said Flatline "Besides; from the looks on those Humans' faces, it seems they're no longer capable of running" Megatron turned back to Predacon #1's visual and crossed his arms.

 _Meanwhile_

As Melody observed the creature that stood in front of her and clicked at them, she started noticing something. The creature seemed to be simply eyeing them off as oppose to going in for the kill. This seemed like an odd behaviour considering its first action was bursting out of the ground and blocking off their path. But then it came to her; the creature was observing their movements and waiting for them to make their move so it could make its move in response.

"Guys…try not to move a muscle" said Melody "It's watching us"

"I think that parts pretty clear" said Kate.

"Listen, it's watching us because it's trying to decide what to do next" said Melody "If we run, it'll come after us; if we make any sudden moves, it'll attack us"

"Then what should we do?" asked Bobby.

"I've got this" said Melody. As she slowly reached for her phone, Predacon #1 quickly noticed it and started scrambling over towards her. "To the side, quick!" She leapt off to one side while Bobby, Kate, and Olivia rushed over to the other side as Predacon #1 lunged at them but ultimately crashed into the ground in front of them.

 _Meanwhile_

Megatron's eyes opened in shock at the sight of the downed Predacon #1.

"How could…How did this happen!?" snarled Megatron.

"It appears to be struggling against unfamiliar terrain" said Flatline. Megatron looked at him with a confused expression. "It's spent the first few days of its life in a controlled environment and it's not entirely sure of what to make of this new environment"

"A suburban neighbourhood?" said Slipstream "Doesn't seem particularly complicated"

"To us, that is" said Flatline "Bare in mind; we have been on Earth for some time now and have become accustomed to the terrain, both the wilderness and the Humans' civilizations. To Predacon #1, all of this is new and confronting. It doesn't have experience to back up its actions, all it has is instinct and the pieces of programming I installed in it. Like any beast raised in captivity, it needs time to become accustomed to the real world"

"Will this time affect our progress?" asked Megatron.

"Like I said before, it is a learning creature and it will develop with the more experiences it receives" replied Flatline "Believe me, this setback is temporary. Once it's learned enough, it will be unstoppable"

"Lord Megatron, Laserbeak has spotted two vehicles approaching Predacon #1's position" said Soundwave. The Laserbeak visual enlarged and showed a car and a motorcycle driving along the road under him. "Their shape and coloration match the Autobots Bumblebee and Arcee"

"Finally" said Megatron "Allow them to pass through so Predacon #1 can face them itself. If Flatline's programming was successful, it'll perceive the Autobots as threats the moment it sees their insignias"

"As you command, Megatron" said Soundwave.

 _Meanwhile_

Bumblebee and Arcee leisurely drove along the road down the street towards where Melody and the others were.

"Well, it took time due to traffic, but we're finally here at last" said Bumblebee.

"You sure we're going the right way?" asked Arcee "We're been along this street ever since Bobby's house and we've no sign of them. Perhaps they went the other way"

"She texted me the direction they were going and this is it" replied Bumblebee "It hasn't been too long, so they should still be down here. Hopefully everything's alright"

"Yeah" said Arcee "It's almost sundown, i.e. when the Cons can come out to play" As they drove down the street further, they reached the large dust cloud that still enveloped a portion of it. "Hey, what's that?"

"I don't know, but we'd better find out" replied Bumblebee "And I'd better remember to use windshield wipers"

 _Meanwhile_

Predacon #1 slowly got itself and examined its surroundings. To its left, it saw Melody slowly getting herself up; to its right, it saw Bobby and Kate trying to settle down the children surrounding them.

"Shhh…it'll be alright" said Kate quietly in an attempt to calm the whimpering children. Predacon #1's optics lit up at the sound the children were emitting and turned towards them with a hiss.

"Damn it!" said Bobby "How are we supposed to stop this thing?" As Melody heard the sound of a pair of incoming vehicles, she turned to the direction it was coming from and saw Bumblebee and Arcee driving up the street towards them.

"Bobby, Kate; take Olivia and run!" yelled Melody.

"What about you?" asked Bobby.

"I'll hold it off while you make a run for it" replied Melody.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Kate "We can't just leave you here with that thing!"

"I'll be fine" said Melody "Help's on the way. Just get her out of here now!"

"Right" said Bobby "C'mon, Olivia; let's get you out of here!" He quickly pulled Olivia away with Kate following them. This triggered Predacon #1's curiosity and it started trailing their movement with its optics. When it began crawling towards them, Melody quickly grabbed a hold of a nearby rock and threw it at it. As the rock clunked against the beast's exoskeleton, it quickly turned towards her with an aggressive hiss.

"Look at me!" yelled Melody with her arms out. Predacon #1 clicked its mandibles in frustration and began snapping its claws in a hostile manner. "Yeah, that's right! Look at me, not at them; they don't interest you! I just hit you with a rock, so makes me the centre of attention!" As Bobby and Kate lead Olivia through the dust cloud, Bumblebee and Arcee strolled up towards them and noticed them.

"There they are" said Bumblebee "Hmm, they seem to be in a real hurry for something"

"Hey, where's Melody?" said Arcee.

"Oh scrap!" said Bumblebee. Up ahead, he could see Melody facing off against Predacon #1 who looked ready to tear her apart.

"What is that thing?" said Arcee.

"I don't know, but three guesses who's behind it" said Bumblebee.

"Decepticons!" said Arcee.

"We're gonna' have to act quick, and we can't transform in this area which makes it extra difficult" said Bumblebee "I'll ram it and try to get it out of here while you pick up Melody and get out of here. Got it?" At that moment, Arcee accelerated forward and positioned herself in front of him.

"No Bee, I'll deal with it while you get Melody and the others to safety" said Arcee.

"But—" said Bumblebee.

"Listen, Bee; I know you must feel unsure about this, but try to look at it from a logical perspective" said Arcee "We have to all of the Humans out of here; you can fit more passengers and get them all to safety, I'm smaller and more nimble which means I can prove more of a challenge for it in a confined area. Got it?"

"Got it" said Bumblebee. Arcee accelerated forward, leapt up into the air, and wacked Predacon #1 in the face with her back wheel. As the mechanical scorpion was sent back, Bumblebee pulled up the curb next to Melody and opened his door up.

"Hop on in" said Bumblebee.

"Right!" said Melody as she leapt onto Bumblebee's seat and drove off down the street until they finally reached Bobby, Kate, and Olivia who were at the borders of the dust cloud. "Quickly, let's get out of here"

 _Meanwhile_

As Predacon #1 got itself up, it looked around until its attention was drawn towards Arcee who stood in front of it and revved her engine.

"You messed with the wrong Humans, Con!" said Arcee. The moment Predacon #1 saw the Autobot insignia on her, it raised its tail hostilely and hissed.

 _Meanwhile_

When Megatron saw Predacon #1's visual of Arcee in front of it, he grinned sinisterly.

"Finally, results are coming!" said Megatron.

 _Meanwhile_

Predacon #1 clicked its claws viciously before scuttling over towards Arcee who steered out of the way just in time.

"Optimus, this is Arcee" said Arcee into her commlink "Bumblebee and I caught Melody and the others under attack by some…giant scorpion thing"

 _Meanwhile_

"Arcee, what are the childrens' status?" asked Optimus into Teletraan I's comm "Are they out of danger?"

"Yes, Bee's taking them to safety" replied Arcee out of Teletraan I's comm "I'm busy keeping the thing distracted while he keeps them out of harm's way. But I can barely do anything in this suburban neighbourhood while restricted in vehicle mode, so I can use some assistance"

"Arcee, try to lure the creature into an unpopulated area to keep it away from any civilians" said Optimus "Once there, keep it distracted until we arrive"

"Got it" said Arcee. Prowl (who'd been listening in on the conversation the whole time from behind a corner) stepped forward and approached Optimus.

"This could be Megatron's hand finally revealing itself" said Prowl.

"That remains to be seen" said Optimus.

 _Meanwhile_

"Okay, big guy; word of advice, I'm not exactly fond of eight-leggers so don't expect me to go easy" said Arcee. Predacon #1 roared viciously and leapt towards her. Arcee swivelled out of the way but Predacon #1 struck down its stinger and pierced her back wheel, causing the tire to burst abruptly. "Damn it!" She slid across the road until she landed in the middle of it lopsided. Seizing the opportunity, Predacon #1 began scuttling towards her threateningly. Arcee desperately pushed herself away until she rolled over and fell into the hole Predacon #1 entered from. "Uh oh!" When Predacon #1 reached the hole, it looked down at Arcee in the centre of it. It tilted its head in confusion before letting out another hiss, leaping up into the air, and drilling down into the tunnel it had created, taking Arcee with it.

 _Meanwhile_

"What's it doing now?" said Megatron as he viewed Predacon #1's visual "It could have finished them back there and yet it holds back"

"Hmm, it appears to savouring the battle" said Flatline.

"Savouring the battle?" said Megatron "It's an animal out on the hunt, why would it do that?"

"It appears to have developed a playful side" replied Flatline "Facing an Autobot in its vehicle mode while in a place they cannot transform is too easy so it's prolonging the fight to make things more enjoyable for it. Think of it as playing with its food"

"This little habit of its had better not interfere with its performance" said Megatron.

"I assure you; if it goes by normal animal behaviour, it'll only do this for easy prey" said Flatline "I speculate that should it come up against harder prey, it won't hold back and it will use full force against them"

"Most of your information about the beast seems to be merely speculation" said Megatron.

"Because until now, all we've had to study the Predacons were fossils and other remains" said Flatline "Naturally of course, the rest had to be filled in with theories. But now we have achieved the impossible, we have a living breathing Predacon to study and observe which will help us fill in the gaps that were beforehand left empty"

 _Meanwhile_

"…and currently, Arcee is holding the creature off and trying to drive it out of the suburbs while Bumblebee is taking the Humans to safety" said Optimus as he stood in front of the other Autobots and briefed them about the situation "As long as the creature remains in a populated area, it is a threat to Humans and there is little we can do about it without being noticed" Amidst the crowd, Wheeljack scratched his chin in thought as his mind travelled back to his scientist days back on Cybertron as he studied ancient relics and remains that were brought to him to by archaeologists so they could be studied.

"Giant scorpion?" said Wheeljack quietly in thought.

"If it's a populated area, does mean that there'll be lots of witnesses?" asked Hound.

"We can't worry about that right now" said Prowl "Our objective right now is to push that creature as far away from civilized areas as possible and to deal with it afterwards"

"Faireborn's really gonna' get us in the neck for this one!" said Jazz.

"We'll with that afterwards" said Prowl.

"Whatever happened to subtlety and avoiding collateral damage?" asked Wheeljack "Isn't that usually, like, the main thing to keep in mind for a mission"

"Ordinarily, yes" replied Prowl "But things are different in this scenario. Chances are, the damage has already been done; the most we can do at the moment is drive the beast out so it can't cause anymore damage. Is that clear?"

"Clear as a crystal" replied Jazz.

"Good, now let's work out the plan of attack" said Prowl.

"I have a plan…ATTACK!" declared Wheeljack as he stepped forward and made a "forwards-pointing" pose. There was no response to that. "Um…Inappropriate"

"Very" said Prowl "Now, back to business. Jazz, Ironhide; you'll go in first to assist Arcee in driving out the creature. You two can blend into public while still being capable in a fight and we'll need that"

"Can do!" said Jazz.

"We'll deliver as promised" said Ironhide.

"Excellent" said Prowl "Once you've pushed the creature out to a safe distance away from the suburbs, the rest of us will come in and help you finish it off. Our superior numbers should overwhelm it; and if doesn't work, we'll come up with a strategy that will best it. From what we've heard, it's only shown signs of average animal intelligence thus far which gives us an advantage over it mentally"

"And what if the Decepticons join in?" asked Bulkhead.

"I assume from the wording of your question that you believe this creature came from the Decepticons" replied Prowl.

"Well, where else could it have come from?" said Bulkhead.

"There's a possibility that could be an unrelated incident, but we cannot rule out Megatron's involvement entirely" said Optimus "But we cannot discuss it now, Arcee needs our help. Should the Decepticons intervene, we'll just have to deal with them alongside the creature. Ratchet, get a lock on Arcee's coordinates"

"On it, Optimus" said Ratchet as he typed into Teletraan "Optimus, you're not going to believe this but Arcee appears to be moving at an overwhelming pace; it's even faster than her normal top speed" Optimus turned towards Teletraan I's screen and indeed saw that Arcee's life signal was moving rapidly across the location map.

"What's happening?" asked Bulkhead.

"If she's moving this fast, it can't be of her own free will" said Optimus.

"Agreed" said Prowl "No doubt that…thing is involved somehow"

"How?" asked Bulkhead.

"From the little we can gather, we can only assume that the creature is dragging Arcee away" replied Prowl "The speed she's going at right now is too fast for even her maximum acceleration. And even if she was this fast, she knows all too well that we have to abide by speed limits in public areas to avoid collateral damage. With all of this on the table, the only explanation we can put together is that the creature is pulling her away forcefully"

"Then what are we waiting for?!" said Bulkhead as he slammed his fists together "Let's kick some tail!"

"Settle down, Bulkhead" said Prowl "We're not going until her signal stops moving"

"What?" said Bulkhead "We can't just sit here while she's getting dragged away by some…scorpion monster"

"I'm not denying that she's in danger at the moment, but we won't solve anything by simply jumping in" said Prowl "Right now, she's moving so fast that we can't get a solid lock on her; and even if we did, it'd be no use. By the time we'd organise ourselves and arrive, the creature will most likely get right past us before we can do anything. That's why right now our best option is to wait for it to stop before pressing forward"

"But…" said Bulkhead.

"Your spark's in the right place, Bulkhead; but you have to calm down and focus" said Prowl "The only one of us who could possibly catch up to that speed is Breakaway, but he's still out of action so that's not an option here. If we rush into this, it'll only make things worse for both us and Arcee"

"Optimus, surely you'd agree with me" said Bulkhead.

"I'm afraid that Prowl is right" said Optimus "We cannot help Arcee if we go in unprepared and the only way to do that is if we have a fixed location to work with first. But do not worry; as soon as we receive a location, I'll make it my first priority to get Arcee back to base so she can receive medical treatment. No matter how dangerous this new creature may be, we cannot abandon a comrade no matter what"

 _Meanwhile_

Predacon #1 burrowed through the ground until it finally reached a hill outside the suburbs and unearthed itself, dragging Arcee out with it and throwing her into a nearby tree and crushing it. As the magenta Autobot pulled herself to her feet and spat out dirt that she had inadvertently swallowed, she looked over towards the giant scorpion that stood before her.

"You…just made a big mistake…" said Arcee "Now that we're out here…it's just you and me!" She turned her hands into her blasters and readied herself into an attacking stance. Understanding that her position as an aggressive one, Predacon #1 buried itself into the ground again and disappeared. "Eh?" Suddenly, she felt something grab a hold of her ankles and soon found herself being dragged away across the dirt. She looked down at her feet and saw that Predacon #1's claws were clutching her ankles and dragging her away. "Not again!" From atop the remains of the nearby tree, Laserbeak perched like an ordinary bird and watched them carefully.

 _Meanwhile_

"This attack is new" said Megatron as he observed Laserbeak's visual "It was able to catch her off even when she already knew it was in the area"

"It would appear that it's already learning new tricks" said Flatline "Even when it's only playing with its food, it can still develop attack moves"

"And with some alteration, it could easily translate into a surprise attack to finish off an unexpecting enemy" said Megatron.

 _Meanwhile_

Amidst all the bustling and unsteadiness of being dragged away by a Predacon, Arcee carefully aimed her blasters towards Predacon #1's claws and shot at them until it eventually let go and disappeared under the dirt again. Finally free, Arcee tumbled back and slowed herself down with her blade until she finally stopped still and regained her footing. Despite this, she now felt wary of her surroundings and was unsure on what to do next. Predacon #1 was once again out of sight and was likely readying itself to perform another attack, and when or where exactly remained unclear.

"Things are just going from bad to worse here" said Arcee to herself "Optimus, you really have to—" Suddenly, Predacon #1 burst out of the ground behind her and lunged forward. As Arcee quickly turned around and desperately tried to ready herself for the next attack, she found herself surprised to see Predacon #1 getting pounded in the head by a wrecking ball.

"Stay down in the earth, you overgrown bug!" said Bulkhead. Predacon #1 was pushed back and tumbled away until it regained its footing and turned back towards them with a hiss.

"The first you should learn about facing us…" said a voice. Arcee turned around to see Optimus and the other Autobots lined up in front of her and ready to go into battle. "…is that an Autobot is never alone!"

 _Meanwhile_

Megatron smiled evilly as he viewed both Predacon #1's and Laserbeak's visuals.

"Well, this should prove interesting!" said Megatron.

 _To be continued…_

 **Author's note #1** : I apologise if Bobby's sister Olivia comes off as a little bratty or annoying but I haven't really written a nine-year old girl before so I don't have the best of expertise when it comes to it.

 **Author's note #2** : Like I said in the previous chapter, my intention was to release at least two more chapters before the end of this year; but since I had to spend extra time on this chapter due to writer's block and other things in my life, that's no longer possible. I hope to get back into the habit of releasing regular updates after New Year's Eve. Until then, I wish you all a late Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 **Guest** : I'm currently undecided on whether or not Ironhide and Chromia are currently in a relationship in my series, but I do plan on them having a shared past. And yes, I do plan on bringing her to Earth eventually; but for now, she'll remain Cybertron based.


End file.
